Christian Vocks @cvocks

Physicist, space plasma theory&simulation and solar radio astronomy, from Lingen in NW Germany, interests in astrophotography, sci-fi, running aip.de/People/cvocks/ Potsdam, Germany Joined May 2009

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

8 months ago

Last Sunday, 19 January 2025, I could observe 4 planets in the evening sky: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Mars is near opposition, and Saturn's rings are almost seen edge-on now.

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Dumbbell nebula M27 from 29 July 2024. 75 images of 60s in L, 26 R, 23 G, 21 B. Should have been 90/30/30/30, but I've lost several exposures due to poor guiding. The blueish color surprises me a bit, as the dominant OIII is more greenish. The raw data also show more B than G.

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

11 months ago

Not too bad if the single frames look like this...

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

11 months ago

Thursday last week (24 October 2024) I had my last chance to see comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in the evening twilight before it disappeared behind trees. Stacked 20 images (Nikon D5600 with Tamron 16-300mm at 44mm, f/4,8, ISO1250, 13s) and subtracked a lot of background.

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

11 months ago

Yesterday evening I could see comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in the evening sky from the Wachtelberg in Werder (Havel). Nikon D5600 with Tamron 16-300 mm at 35 mm, f/4.5, ISO 1250, 10 s.

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

12 months ago

The second video, again one picture every 15 s, from 22:50 to 23:20 CEST (20:50 - 21:20 UT).

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

12 months ago

I've created two timelapse videos from my aurora observations on 10 October 2024. One picture every 15 s, between 22:39 and 22:46 CEST (20:39 - 20:46 UT). The aurora becomes so bright that it's overexposed!

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

12 months ago

Aurora (polar lights) over Potsdam! It's the first time in my life that I see it. This picture was taken at 22:37 CEST (20:37 UT) in northern direction. Nikon D5600 with Tamron 16-300mm at 16mm, f/3.5, ISO1000, 10s. The aurora was also well visible to the naked eye.

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

12 months ago

My last object from spring, the dwarf galaxy NGC4449 from 15 May 2024. 139 exposures of 60s in L, 13 in R, and each 15 in G and B. Due to guiding problems I had to throw away quite a few, especially in R. That way, Halpha regions are not visible too well.

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

12 months ago

My next object from the clear week in spring, the Black Eye Galaxy M64 on 14 May 2024 in Coma Berenices. 130 exposures of 60s in L, 18 in R, and 20 in G and B each. In post-processing I could tease out a few more details of the central dust cloud.

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AIP @AIP_Potsdam

12 months ago

In der spanischen Morgendämmerung, auf La Palma, entdeckte Martin Roth zusammen mit Azlizan Soemitro vom AIP am Gran Teleskopio Canarias den Jahrhundertkometen #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanATLAS. Na, wenn das nicht eine erfolgreiche Beobachtungsnacht gewesen ist.🔭☄️ #Comet #Astronomy

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

12 months ago

Finished the Berlin Marathon in 4:12:26 h. At first I though that's a bit faster than last year, but actually it's 4:30 min slower. Weather was good, although a bit cool. In the first half of the race I was a bit too fast, aiming at sub 4h. That took its toll in the second half.

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

a year ago

Getting ready for tomorrow!

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ASTRON @ASTRON_NL

a year ago

🌌 #SpaceX's 2nd gen Starlink satellites are leaking up to 32 times more unintended radio waves than the 1st gen, potentially blinding telescopes like @LOFAR and jeopardizing our understanding of the Universe! #Starlink #RadioInterference astron.nl/starlink-satel…

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

a year ago

There was almost a week of clear nights in May, with many galaxies to see. Here is M63, the Sunflower Galaxy, from 13 May 2023. 139 exposures of 60s in L, and each 20 in R, G, B. Celestron C8 with f/6.3 focal reducer and ZWO ASI 294MM Pro.

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

a year ago

A few days after the Virgo cluster, I could observe the Coma cluster on 12 May 2024. Due to its larger distance it fits nicely into my telescope's field of view. Many of the "stars" in the image are galaxies! 167 frames of 60 s in L, and about 15 each in R, G, B.

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

a year ago

Close-up view of Active Region 13780 near the southwest limb. Beside the complex sunspot group, one can also see extended areas of solar faculae.

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

a year ago

The Sun is very active now! Single frame with Celestron C8, f/6.3 focal reducer, and ZWO ASI 294MM Pro with 0.2 ms exposure time. I took 20 images and picked the best one, as seeing was very bad on my balcony in the summer Sun.

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

a year ago

Satellites were quite annoying during my observations of the Virgo cluster. I have hardly a frame with no satellite trail in it. Here is a composite of all of them, by taking the maximum over all individual images. This shows how busy it is up there!

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Christian Vocks @cvocks

a year ago

The Virgo galaxy cluster, observed on 8 May 2024. 111 images of 60 s with L filter, ZWO ASI 294MM Pro and Sigma 135-400 telephoto lens at 150 mm. Besides the major elliptical galaxies M87, M86, and M84 near the image center, numerous smaller galaxies can be seen.