Location: Fredericton, NB, Canada
Date Time: June 21, 2025 2130-0300hrs
Weather: It was mostly clear, then a few passing clouds, to mostly cloudy and ground fog by 3am. Cool, no wind, very humid, some dew, 11C and 100% humidity. Mosquitos, no see-ums, blackflies and big moths were a major factor until after 0130am. After that they weren't much of a problem.
Equipment: Canon Rebel T3 attached to an 80 ed/apo. Images processed with PhotoShop.
Objective: To view and image Mercury in the evening and a thin waning crescent moon with Venus after 3am.
Report:
- My location does not give a good, low view of the horizon, in any direction, and I couldn't see to the south. I could not see Mercury in the evening or the moon at 3am, probably because it hadn't risen yet. The clouds and fog at 3am were thin enough that I thought I would see it through the clouds, but it had not risen by 3am. Thick clouds and fog took over around 3am, ending observing.
- Viewed and imaged stars and messier objects around the Ursa Major. Only one image turned out well, M81 & M82, galaxies to the right of the bowl of the big dipper. I also imaged Dubhe, M108 and M97, but the messier objects were too faint to make good images and Dubhe just didn't turn out well.
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| M81 & M82, single shot, 30s, ISO 1600. |
- As I was waiting for the Moon and Venus to rise, I imaged Ruchbah also known as Delta Cassiopeia, one of the bright asterism stars. Ruchbah is from an Arabic word Rukbah meaning "knee", referring to Queen Cassiopeia, the mythical figure for which the constellation is named.
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| Ruchbah, single shot, 30s, ISO 1600. |
- Also of note: There is a noticeable increase in satellites flying overhead in the night sky, imo.
