Even more aurora and airglow! April 4th and 5th

[OzEclipse]

Friday April 4th and Saturday 5th

Attached photo: Skyglow, Saturday 5th April, 11:00pm

Very quiet until 11:30pm local time. Started capturing a frame every 2 mins. Two weak auroral events backed up by another strong green airglow display.

Had a busy day on Saturday, Zoom Fuhrer for two astronomy club meetings - committee and monthly general meeting followed immediately by my village's autumn hoedown, so I decided to pack it in at 230am. 15 mins later heard a sonic boom. Saw other's videos next day showing a very bright fireball. Would have been in my camera frame too. Oh well.

This is the link to the HD video 720x1280p from Friday 4th April.
https://vimeo.com/1072899238?share=copy#t=0

Enjoy
Joe


Cheers

Joe

[Leo.G]

Yet another beautiful image Hoe!
Those 14mm lenses are amazing for the money, is yours auto or manual focus? (focal point is never where the indicator is) but my second one actually achieves infinity focus at f2.8, my first purchase was quickly returned because it wouldn't (and I have the same issue with an f1.4 85mm Rokinon/Samyang).

[OzEclipse]

Hi Leo,
Thanks for your kind words.

Mine's a manual focus 14mm f2.8 and it comes to infinity focus just slightly inward of the end of the focus range. With Live View set to 16X it's pretty easy to find focus.

Joe

[Leo.G]

Mine is manual focus on my Nikon too but nowhere near the infinity mark. I did however check multiple times and mark it with a thin line of nail polish so I can find infinity easy, I set it in the house before I take it out in the dark.
Otherwise, they are an amazing lens for the money.
Oh, live view on the Nikon D810 in the dark is atrocious, nothing more than noise and absolutely useless trying to focus on a star field. There may be a trick I am not aware of but I've not seen mention anywhere whilst having seen mention of the lousy dark performance numerous times.
I used a friends Canon 5D MkIV, I had it here for a few months, it's live view in low light was amazing.

[astronobob]

Nice enjoyed video watch and photo Joe, I’d like to drive Van and spend a couple months down VIC, be awesome to see and image some for sure !

[OzEclipse]

Thanks Bob,

Just remember, weather down here is inverted compared to QLD. 75% of nights are clear in summer dropping to a dismal 50% in winter.

Naturally, inland areas are always much clearer than coastal areas and inland plains, clearer than the Great Dividing Range.

Here is a weather summary for my area (Young) typical of inland southern NSW and North Central and west Victoria.

In Young, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year : -

1. The clearer part of the year in Young begins around 5 August and lasts for 9.3 months, ending around 13 May.

2. The clearest month of the year in Young is March, during which on average the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 74% of the time.

3. The cloudier part of the year begins around 13 May and lasts for 2.7 months, ending around 5 August.

4. The cloudiest month of the year in Young is June, during which on average the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 47% of the time.

[astronobob]

Well thay is good reasons to avoid the colder months down there considering my Summer/Autumn UV charged skin only last until May ;)
Appreciated much thnx Joe