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.
22 Oct–28 Octbrowse all nights →
2026-10-28
2026-10-280/2974 · ≈16.6 mag/arcsec² · 6.2 bits
2026-10-27
2026-10-272769/2958 · ≈17.4 mag/arcsec² · 5.2 bits
2026-10-26
2026-10-2618/2942 · ≈16.1 mag/arcsec² · 6.9 bits
2026-10-25
2026-10-25427/2934 · ≈16.9 mag/arcsec² · 5.9 bits
2026-10-22
2026-10-22404/2890 · ≈17.8 mag/arcsec² · 4.7 bits
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