Astro Camera

night-by-night colour sweeps and stacks with a camera facing north and towards the pole and zenith
The Astro Camera: a clear plastic box taped shut, on a wooden arm outside the window above the garden
Pi 4 and v3 camera in a sandwich box from an upstairs window. The white triangle is a lens cover driven by the Pi with an SG90 servo (not visible, far outside of box). The lens is covered with a phone protector glass.
per-night brightness curves overlaid
astrocam v3
brightness curves (and an old reference) for a week. Clouds are bright in the suburbs and overcast is about 8, deep darkness about 4. 4 stops or bits is 16x more photons. The pedestal is 6 bits and must be greater than the electrical noise of the sensor.
3 Sep–9 Sepbrowse all nights →
2026-09-09
2026-09-0991/549 · 17.9 mag/arcsec² · 4.4 bits
2026-09-08
2026-09-08522/545 · 18.0 mag/arcsec² · 4.3 bits
2026-09-07
2026-09-07137/284 · 16.1 mag/arcsec² · 6.9 bits
2026-09-06
2026-09-06431/537 · 17.8 mag/arcsec² · 4.6 bits
2026-09-05
2026-09-05152/532 · 17.6 mag/arcsec² · 4.8 bits
2026-09-04
2026-09-04408/529 · 17.9 mag/arcsec² · 4.4 bits
2026-09-03
2026-09-0394/524 · 17.7 mag/arcsec² · 4.6 bits