Noctilucent Clouds - Mon 22nd June, 2020

[TakMan]

Wasn't prepared gear wise, so made do photographing from home and trying to shield the lens from the street lights... ended up concentrating on close up shots.

‘Trusty’ or should that be crusty, old Nikon D3 FX (full frame), Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and Nikon D7000 DX with Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VRII, tripod mounted, cable release and mirror lock function.

Processed in Adobe Lightroom, just trying out some different colour palettes.

Taken from north Lichfield (Staffordshire).

Single shot. D3 - ISO 200, 1.3 sec, f/3.2, 62mm, 2.46am

 

Single shot. D3 - ISO 200, 1.3 sec, f/3.2, 70mm, 2.50am

 

Single shot. D7000 - ISO 100, 2 sec, f/2.8, 70mm, 2.53am

 

Single shot. D7000 - ISO 100, 2 sec, f/2.8, 70mm, 2.55am

 

Single shot. D7000 - ISO 100, 2 sec, f/2.8, 70mm, 2.57am

 

Single shot. D7000 - ISO 100, 1.3sec, f/2.8, 70mm, 2.58am

 

Single shot. D7000 - ISO 100, 1sec, f/2.8, 90mm, 3.12am

 

Single shot. D7000 - ISO 100, 1sec, f/2.8, 90mm, 3.12am

 

Single shot. D7000 - ISO 100, 1sec, f/2.8, 90mm, 3.13am

 

Single shot. D3 - ISO 200, 0.8 sec, f/3.2, 70mm, 3.17am

 

Single shot. D3 - ISO 200, 0.6 sec, f/3.2, 70mm, 3.18am

A link back to same sort of time last year. might even be clear again tonight...

Damian

 

 

Edited June 22, 2020 by TakMan

[Craney]

Great photos.  Look at those ripples.

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place last night, as it was clear with no Moon.... telescope set up and ready to image..... but  like yourself, just beyond the street-lamps I could feel the icy electric glow......  it would mean a car journey........ dither, dither..... indecision........   Looking at your photos, I wish I had gone now.

[Ouroboros]

Really splendid photos. I like the one with the street lamp.  

[Dave Lloyd]

The street lamps really point up the silver of the clouds. 

[kerrylewis]

Lovely photos.

i was looking last night and this morning but saw nothing. What time were the shots taken? 

[TakMan]

Timings are provided with each shot Kerry.

Nothing last night (sunset), probably due to a bank of cloud on the horizon around 11.00-11.50pm (when I’d walked to my usual site for photography - see last years link).

But, I woke (a bit late) this morning around 3.15am and there was a nice subtle display, in a high up fan effect, so I did image them... will process them later and add to a new thread...

D

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Lovely collection!

[kerrylewis]

2 minutes ago, TakMan said:

Timings are provided with each shot Kerry.

Nothing last night (sunset), probably due to a bank of cloud on the horizon around 11.00-11.50pm (when I’d walked to my usual site for photography - see last years link).

But, I woke (a bit late) this morning around 3.15am and there was a nice subtle display, in a high up fan effect, so I did image them... will process them later and add to a new thread...

D

Apologies if those times were there before- simply didn’t see them! I was up observing the planets at that time. I suspect I am not looking low enough - my horizon is a bit cluttered from the garden. 

[TakMan]

Yes, the timings were there!

Usually they are lower, especially the ‘after sunset’ ones, but I’ve often found that the pre-dawn NLCs are actually higher up. This morning I used the 14-24mm lens, angled up... so some of the clouds would have been reaching up to the zenith. If you were observing Jupiter and Saturn riding low in the South then all you needed to do was spin around and look up 45 degrees!

Edited June 23, 2020 by TakMan

[kerrylewis]

19 minutes ago, TakMan said:

Yes, the timings were there!

Usually they are lower, especially the ‘after sunset’ ones, but I’ve often found that the pre-dawn NLCs are actually higher up. This morning I used the 14-24mm lens, angled up... so some of the clouds would have been reaching up to the zenith. If you were observing Jupiter and Saturn riding low in the South then all you needed to do was spin around and look up 45 degrees!

I did! But as you can tell my brain cells are ageing rapidly so I probably missed them like I did your timings 😀 I will try, try and try again 

[TakMan]

No worries..,

Looks like a few chances this week, so fingers crossed for you!

D

[johnfosteruk]

Brilliant set!

[John Nodding]

In my head as I was scrolling down, given there are so many excellent pics, I was saying alright, alright...you're just showing off now...hahaha.  These are great!  I managed to see some on Sunday which was nice.  My missus wasn't too chuffed though as I crouched down by the window on 'her' side of the bed and scared the bejesus out of her at midnight! Haha!

Noddy