3 replies to this topic

[garyhawkins]

This is a highly condensed video of the majority of the penumbral lunar eclipse that started late in the evening Nov 29, 2020 - https://youtu.be/G8ouTXypHLA . Sweeping clouds throughout the evening made for challenging observing but the darkening with time is clearly seen.  Also, the film picked up the transit of a tumbling object which is examined in more detail around the four-minute mark in the video.  If you have any ideas on how to identify this object I'd love to hear them.

 

The video was shot with a C6 SCT/x0.63 focal reducer/533MC camera on an AVX mount.  The Sharpcap image was captured in OBS Studio where brightness and contrast correction was undertaken before the feed was both streamed and saved.  What you will view is a speeded-up version of this real-time feed cropped for better presentation - thus, I think this still qualifies as EAA.

 

The real-time feed was one of two feeds provided by the San Diego Astronomy Association to timeanddate.com for their live coverage of the event. The full-length video produced by timeanddate.com is available here - https://youtu.be/_NjREh2WE2c.

Edited by garyhawkins, 03 December 2020 - 12:22 PM.

[johnpd]

Hi Gary,

 

  You guys did a great job under your conditions. I was doing the Green Valley, AZ stream feed. Unfortunately I did not record my feed. Any idea as to the exact time that object flew across the Moon? Possibly we can check what satellite or stray rocker booster may have been in the area.

 

JohnD

[garyhawkins]

Hi John,

 

Likewise, great to meet you and have you onboard as well.  At 5fps, and storing to .mp4, I got 3.5hrs of footage in 4GB of storage.  The additional CPU load was minimal.

 

We've have been trying to identify the object without success.  I got excited when I saw the news reports relating to 2020 SO (Surveyor 2 Centaur rocket booster launched on 20 September 1966) and while the timing looks possible the transit speed seemed way to quick.  So I reached out to the NASA media contact, and they forwarded the video to CNEOS (Center for Near Earth Object Studies).  So perhaps they will help identify it.

 

Best regards,

 

Gary

[johnpd]

It was a good event and I was surprised at the number of people that were viewing the feed. I was actually using 3 computers. A laptop outside controlled the camera, a desktop inside which controlled the laptop using AnyDesk and generated the OBS feed, and another desktop inside to watch the YouTube feed and run Skype to keep in contact with the timeanddate.com people. At one point I clicked the wrong mouse and messed up my feed. It was fun. There is a total lunar eclipse in May but it might be two low in the sky for me. I will be able to get the partial phase but when the total phase starts, the Moon will only be about 12 degrees above the horizon. I am not sure if I will be blocked by houses and vegetation then.

 

JohnD