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Unless otherwise stated all images were taken in a Bortle 8-9 white-zone with a ZWO ASI-178mm mono camera, no filters.

The International Space Station crossing the sun taken with an amateur telescope from a city balcony.

International Space Station transiting the Sun.  20cm SCT, exp=1/1,500 sec, solar filter, colored,

Airliner Sun Silohette.jpg

Airliner silhouetted against the sun.  Solar filter, still taken from video.

The International Space Station taken with an amateur telescope from a city balcony.

International Space Station.  20cm SCT, F10, Canon 60D, 1/1,000 exp, ISO 1600, distance 510km

Dwarf Planet Haumea on July 8 2020 (M=17

Dwarf planet Haumea, July 10, 2020.

15 minute exposure, 20cm SCT at F5.6.

Dwarf Planet Makemake on July 8 2020 (M=

Dwarf planet Makemake, July 10, 2020.

13 minute exposure, 20cm SCT at F5.6.

Comet NEOWISE (E=4.6m 20cm SCT F5.6) 1.j

Coma of comet NEOWISE on July 17, 2020, at magnitude +3.2.

20cm SCT, F5.6, exposure 4.6 minutes.

Processed to bring out the comet's uncommon bow wave plus streamers, in this 21 arc-min wide field-of-field.

Comet NEOWISE at Mag 4.1 (Canon 80D F9 4

Comet NEOWISE on July 24, 2020, at magnitude 4.1.

Canon 80D camera with 400mm telephoto lens at F9 using ISO 3200.

Stack of 120 four-second frames totaling 8 minutes of exposure.

Pluto at Mag 14.3 (E=8.8m 20cm SCT F5.6

Dwarf Planet Pluto at magnitude 14.3 on two occassions.

20cm SCT, F5.6, each exposure ~9 minutes, elevation 23 degrees but limiting magnitude reaches 18.2.

Confirmed with Stellarium.  Moderate difficulty to image Pluto in urban skies.

Even with low EL and hazy skies it was still barely visible in real time the on computer screen.

Sept 28 2020 - ISS Solar Transit with En

International Space Station transiting the Sun on Sept 28, 2020.  20cm SCT, exp=1/1,300 sec, solar filter, colored.

Solar limb at bottom-left for scale.  Solar elevation was only 20 degrees yielding a space station distance of 1,250km.

Both confirmed with Stellarium.  Uncommonly imaged from Bortle 9 skies.

The White Zone

An Urban Astronomer's Light Pollution Guide to Balcony Imaging

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