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.
15 Oct–21 Octbrowse all nights →
2026-10-21
2026-10-211561/2874 · ≈18.0 mag/arcsec² · 4.4 bits
2026-10-20
2026-10-201244/2862 · ≈18.1 mag/arcsec² · 4.3 bits
2026-10-19
2026-10-193/2845 · ≈16.0 mag/arcsec² · 7.1 bits
2026-10-18
2026-10-18418/2345 · ≈17.9 mag/arcsec² · 4.5 bits
2026-10-17
2026-10-172322/2817 · ≈17.8 mag/arcsec² · 4.7 bits
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