Tail and Anti-Tail!

The fog in SF lifted right at sunset and C/2023 A3 was easily naked eye visible. Best comet I have seen to date! You can see an Anit-tail and Venus reflected in a tide pool. 

The sun set wasn't half bad either. If you look close you can see some sunspots mixed in with some birds.

The tail was so long it barely fit in the 70mm view (well more like 100mm on my crop sensor). I kept thinking the anti-tail was an artifact like a lens flare or reflection but then found out what an anti-tail is and that it's just how it looks from the earth's current perspective.

It's a little hard to tell but you can see it reflecting in the water just a little.

It started looking a little red as it was setting and getting into the thick atmosphere and low haze.

 

Little Bird

Saw this (Anna's) hummingbird on a walk to Safeway in Golden Gate Park.

It's pretty amazing how much the colors of the feathers can change with just a little movement. I feel like it wasn't as colorful as it could be because it was very overcast and in the lower shaded branches of the tree. But they are some of the better hummingbird pictures I have managed to get. Maybe the best? Humming birds are a PITA to get capture because they don't like to hold still for very long.

Farallon Surprise!

 Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan–ATLAS over the Farallon Islands.

We had just clear enough skies in SF that I was able to see the comet just after sunset. It was just on the edge of naked eye visible. Fingers crossed for clear skies tonight (Oct 12th) when it should be at it's brightest.

shadowy alter ego -:]

It seems my car has a shadowy alter ego -:]

 

Two Hawks Just Hanging Out

Saw these two (red-tailed?) hawks hanging out on my way home from surfing this morning.

I often see one or two lone hawks in our neighborhood but this is the first time I've seen two together. Not sure if one or both might be juveniles?

This is the one on the left in the previous images flying off.
 

Moon and Venus Sunset in the Sunset

Sunset with the Moon and Venus was pretty amazing tonight! The weather was perfect and the sky was nice and clear.

Love that I caught a surfer walking back.

Some random person having a drink while some pelicans fly by.

 

Our local star a month ago and this afternoon

An image of our local star rise from 2024/09/03

Our local star this afternoon (2024/10/04)

 

Best comet in years!

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) rising over SF.

Best comet in years. Fingers crossed it comes back around the sun and becomes (easily) naked eye visible starting around Oct 10th or 11th.

Quick shot of Saturn

Quick shot of Saturn with edge on rings. Stack from Canon R7 4k crop video with 500mm lens out of the kitchen window. Spent about 5min and took two 20sec clips. At least you can tell it's Saturn. I really should get my bigger scope out and try to get a better image.

Big Spots

 

❤️Pistol❤️

WE LOVE YOU PISTOL! You will always be my little girl, my princess, and The Worried Pope!

Linda and me have loved you since moment you came into our lives 15 years ago. I know your brother loves you too. Thank you for all the happiness you brought into our lives. You will always be with us and we will love and cherish your memory for the rest of our lives.

Everyone please give those you love a hug and or pet for Pistol and us❤️

❤️

Local star is very active!

Our local star and some of the spots that recently sent us some highly energetic particle fun.

They are currently predicting possible mid-latitude aruras July 30-31. Probably worth taking looking north the next few nights if you have clear skies just in case.

Cool Blue Damselfly

Spotted this cool blue damselfly after a surf session.

 

Orange things. Bird things. SF things.

Things seen walking around in our SF outer sunset neighborhood.

 

Dirty Sun

 Testing out some new camera settings but also shooting through a dirty window so mixed results today.

Our local star showing it's spots

Our local star is pretty spotty this week. It has been overcast all week in SF so had to grab this shot from Menlo Park, CA this morning after a morning skate session.

Just a little Jellyfishing

 One of the more interesting falcon 9 launches visible from SF in a while. There were light clouds but most of the launch was visible and with the low sun the booster and fairings were very visible which was cool to see. A little bit of "jellyfishing" was visible but would have been better if it had been darker and more clear.

Exhaust trail being well lit by the low sun on slightly darker sky.

Just after booster separation.

Jellyfish starting to grow as booster falls away.

Jellyfish just visible but fairings and booster clearly standing out.

Poor Surf Hall Moth

Went to go look at the surf but it wasn't looking great and found they moth in the hall when I got back.

Sun Day Saturday!

H-alpha filter mosaic

Standard white light filter.

Some nice big sunspots and prominences today, what better way to test out my new solar h-alpha filter!

I picked up a solar h-alpha filter a month ago and it took a number of sessions over the last 4weeks to get the basics all worked out. That and without fail each time I picked up something I realized I was missing it would be overcast for about a week. It is SF so probably not just because of the new astro gear?