The Moonglow All Sky Cam produced wonderful 3600 views of the sky day and night. The Starlight Xpress Oculus All Sky Camera produces a slightly smaller fisheye view of the night sky. It is too sensitive for daytime views. The Moon and the nearby radio towers are so bright they produce
prominent artifacts in the images with blooming and internal
reflections off the glass dome. Also, dirt and water
droplets can show up in the images.
The major planets and bright stars down to at least the
fourth magnitude are evident in 20-30-second exposures with
familiar constellations easily recognizable, such as Orion,
Canis Major, The Big Dipper, Auriga, Gemini, and Leo. On
very good nights with no Moon or clouds, the Milky Way can be
faintly appreciated. Bright meteors are readily evident as
are airplanes and bright satellites.
Sometimes, it is
necessary to consult HeavensAbove to determine if a bright trail on one of the
images is a known satellite. Cosmos satellites are common
and run in the North-South (or South-North) direction.
They can simulate bright meteors. Only when a bright
North/South streak on an image cannot be identified as a known
satellite, is it assumed to be a meteor. Trails caused by
planes have a somewhat different appearance and typically are in
the Southeastern part of the sky reflecting the location of the
two busiest airports in the Tucson metropolitan region.
Representative Moonglow All Sky Cam
images.
North is at the top, East is to the left. Notice the 3 radio towers in the Northeast. Tucson with its skyglow is to the South at the bottom of the
images. All times are local Mountain Standard Time (MST).
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Sun Halo April 10, 2012 |
Night sky at midnight on January 18, 2012. |
Cloudy sky on January 16, 2012 at 22:34 hours. |
Quadrantid meteor on the morning of January 4, 2012. |
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Faint meteor in the Southwest. The pre-dawn
skyglow is bright in the East. |
Bright meteor on the morning of January 14, 2012 at
4:36 hours. The bright Moon is over-exposed
producing a large globular artifact. |
Cosmos 2056 Rocket producing North/South light
streak on the evening of January 18, 2012 at 18:47
hours. An airplane trail is also visible in the
Southeast. |
Bright meteor on the morning of January 21, 2012 at
5:53 hours. No known satellite was listed for this
part of the sky at that time. |
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Lyrid meteor on the evening of April 21, 2012. |
Lyrid meteor on the morning of April 22,
2012. |
Panoramic view of the evening sky on December 19,
2011. |
Fireball on the evening of October 12,
2012. |
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Meteor on the morning of October 13, 2012. |
Moon halo on the evening of September 27, 2012. |
Moon halo on the evening of December 21, 2012. |
Lyrid meteor on the morning of April 22, 2013. |
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Fireball on the morning of August 12, 2013. |
Quadrantid meteoron the morning of January 3, 2013. |
Perseid meteor in the twilight on the morning of August 12, 2013. |
Perseid fireball on August 13, 2013. |
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Spider on All Sky Camera on the evening of July 27, 2015. |
Moon halo on the evening of December 5, 2014 at 22:56. |
Alien life form? Probably owl sitting on All Sky Camera November 16, 2012 at 2:36 am MST. |
Lightening on the evening of June 26, 2015. |
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Leonid meteor at 4:07 am November 18, 2015. |
Cosmos 1437 satellite at 5:49 am November 18, 2015. |
Perseid fireball on the morning of August 12, 2016. |
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Gemind Meteors on the Night of December 13-14, 2013
The All Sky Cam recorded 79 Geminid meteors on the night of December 13 and the morning of December 14, 2013. Eight meteors were recorded from 9:58 pm to midnight MST on the evening of December 13. On the morning of December 14 from midnight to 7:00 am MST, 71 meteors were recorded. There were four instances on the morning of December 14 where two Geminid meteors were recorded on the same image.
There was an 11 day old waxing gibbous Moon which significantly brightened the sky until it set at 4:46 am on the 14th. The Moon shows up as a bright spot with glare and scatter in most of the images. Jupiter is in Gemini below Castor and Pollux. Astronomical twilight began on the morning of December 14 at 5:49 am MST. Sunrise was at 7:17 am MST. In addition to the meteors being recorded, the SKYMED2 satellite was recorded at 6:01 am MST on the morning of December 14th.
Geminid Meteors on the Night of December 13-14, 2013
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Geminid meteor on the evening of December 13, 2013 at 2359 hours MST. There is a bright 11 day old Moon. |
Two Geminid meteors on the morning of December 14, 2013 at 0028 hours MST. There is a bright 11 day old Moon. |
Geminid fireball on the morning of December 14, 2013 at 0141 hours. There is a bright 11 day old Moon. |
Geminid fireball on the morning of December 14, 2013 at 0322 hours. There is a bright 11 day old Moon low in the west. |
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Geminid fireball on the morning of December 14, 2013 at 0332 hours. There is a bright 11 day old Moon low in the west. |
Geminid fireball on the morning of December 14, 2013 at 0413 hours. There is a bright 11 day old Moon very low in the west. |
Geminid fireball on the morning of December 14, 2013 at 0435 hours. The fireball is behind the three towers in the northeast. The 11 day old Moon is on the western horizon. |
SKYMED 2 satellite on the morning of December 14, 2013 at 0601 hours MST. |
Starlight Xpress Oculus All Sky Camera Images
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Moving gif file showing two satellites on the morning of Frigday December 14, 2018. All sky view. |
Moon Halo on the evening of March 24, 2018. All sky view. |
Moon Halo on the evening of Friday December 21, 2018. All sky view. |
Geminids on the morning of Friday December 14, 2018. All sky view. |
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Geminid meteor at 0530 hours MST on the morning of Friday December 14, 2018. All sky view. |
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