All-sky camera

A new Starlight Xpress Oculus 150-degree all-sky camera has been set up at the Guernsey Observatory, as of April 2017. Live images (night-time only) and the last night’s video can be accessed here.

From 09 August 2011 to 30 April 2015 the Guernsey Observatory was the location of an all-sky camera, one of a network of such cameras placed by the University of Hertfordshire. It took pictures of the entire night sky every couple of minutes, uploading them to a website in real time, archiving them, and creating a nightly video, which was itself uploaded to the website. The archived images and videos can be accessed here.

The University’s camera was a Santa Barbara Instruments Group AllSky 340 monochrome camera, using a Kodak KAI-340 CCD, 640x480 pixels, each 7.4 microns square, and a high gain output stage. It had a Fujinon fisheye lens, focal length 1.4 mm, F/1.4, with an acrylic dome cover, and an internal heater to keep the lens free from condensation and the dome free from dew. Raindrops have to evaporate naturally. More details are available at the above website, and a brief description of the installation is contained in an article in a newsletter, accessible here.

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  All Sky Camera

  Santa Barbara Instruments Group AllSky 340 monochrome camera

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  All Sky Camera

  Santa Barbara Instruments Group AllSky 340 monochrome camera

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  A typical clear-sky image taken at midnight UT

  01 October 2011, showing, prominently, the Milky Way and Jupiter. North is up, east left and west right. 2-minute exposure

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  International Space Station

  28 September 2011, 2-minute exposure

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  Aircraft

  28 November 2011, 45-second exposure

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  Iridium 56 flare

  15 October 2011

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  Fireball (a very bright meteor), 13 November 2011.

  The fireball was observed by Daniel Carvill, who described it as large, green, very bright, and visible for about 5 seconds")

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  Barn Owl on Camera

  A Barn Owl has been a regular visitor, using the camera as a convenient perch. The image shows it as a ghostly outline, as it was present for only part of the 2-minute exposure

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  Barn Owl on Camera

  The image shows the Barn Owl in detail in a 17-second exposure on a cloudy night.