Eclipse 2026 pictures
Categories: Optics Space PhotographyThe results from the 2026 eclipse as seen from a little field near Morat in Switzerland....
SPACE
Eclipse 2026 Preparations
Categories: Optics Space PhotographyIn this post, I 3D print a filter holder that I will use for observing the eclipse next week! Stay tuned......
How do big telescopes look through the atmosphere - Adaptative Optics 101
Categories: Optics Space LaserContinuing my series of post covering my talk from last Christmas about the use of lasers in space and astronomy. The topic today is adaptative optics. I'll explain the reason why we need it, and how it works in simple terms. Enjoy....
Diffraction patterns in astronomical imaging
Categories: Optics SpaceThe first image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was uncover a few days ago [1]. This is truely an incredible image, showing the galactic cluster SMACS 0723, which is slowly becoming the de-facto target for newly deployed space telescopes as it was imaged by Hubble, Planck and Chandra before JWST. This image in particular took the JWST 12.5 hours of exposure to be able to see these objec...
SpaceX lost 38 Starlink Satellites due to a CME
Categories: SpaceI wrote last year about the effect of CME on the thermospheric density and what are the effects on satellites inside the thermosphere, typically at the altitude of the Starlink satellites. You can find this post here....
NEOWISE seen from my garden
Categories: Space PhotographyI know, this comet was seen 1 and a half year ago, but I didn't had a blog then, so I have to do it now......
That Time When We Lost The Position Of Some Satellites
Categories: SpaceI wrote about Carrington events here, just a few days before the solar cycle 23 unleashed some strong storm with an X1 flare the 28th October and several other CMEs the next days... Fortunately, the impact on earth was minimal: It was a mostly a miss. But it sparked some wonderful display of aurora in the last days of October. See here and here for some nice images....
The dangers of solar eruptions: the dreaded Carrington event
Categories: SpaceI am a fan of disaster movies. I have grown in the 90's and 00's, at a time where Hollywood started a trend of summer blockbusters that usually involved alien invasion, or volcanoes and other gigantic threat that was supposed to threaten the existence of Humanity. We had it all: Independence Day, Volcano, Armageddon, Deep Impact, 12 monkeys, etc... Spectacular and frightening....