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.
24 Sep–30 Sepbrowse all nights →
2026-09-30
2026-09-30206/578 · 17.8 mag/arcsec² · 4.6 bits
2026-09-29
2026-09-2999/569 · 16.9 mag/arcsec² · 5.7 bits
2026-09-28
2026-09-2896/628 · 15.8 mag/arcsec² · 7.2 bits
2026-09-27
2026-09-27169/623 · 17.2 mag/arcsec² · 5.4 bits
2026-09-26
2026-09-2677/620 · 17.0 mag/arcsec² · 5.6 bits
2026-09-25
2026-09-2542/616 · 17.0 mag/arcsec² · 5.6 bits
2026-09-24
2026-09-24481/610 · 17.9 mag/arcsec² · 4.4 bits