Nordic landscapes and northern lights – 12
In contrast to its infrared counterpart, the scene is much more evenly lit in full spectrum. The water reflection is particularly interesting, as it would be expected to see higher reflection in the visible spectrum – and indeed, even the colour on the water surface seems to be a bit more green (and therefore more […]
Nordic landscapes and northern lights – 14
The last night of northern lights had a particularly eerie feeling to it, as the aurora was quite faint but very active. The infrared sky emission made itself known again, as well. As before, there is a remarkable difference in water reflections between full spectrum and infrared.
Nordic landscapes and northern lights – 15
Here, full spectrum truly shows what firework we could see if our eyes had infrared capabilities as well. The sky has a purple taint due to the infrared sky emissions and the horizon again shifts colours due to visible light absorption.
Nordic landscapes and northern lights – 16
On the last full day, Norway said goodbye with a particularly scenic sun setting above the coastal mountains. I couldn’t be happier with what we have seen and experienced on that voyage.
Nordic landscapes and northern lights – 17
I couldn’t be happier with what we have seen and experienced on that voyage and, if times change and travel becomes more free again, I would love to return.
Ulmer Mnster
One of my passions is infrared photography of churches in Europe, gothic churches in particular. The Ulmer Münster has the highest church tower in the world and infrared gives it a rather menacing feeling.
Historic Fraunhofer refractor of USM
The old observatory of the Universitätssternwarte München in Bogenhausen and its Fraunhofer refractor used to be one of the most modern of its time. However, more than a century has passed and it is now under monument protection. It provides a very nice background for our new office building!
Infrared Isar
The first color infrared photo I ever took with an ancient Sony F717 in night mode, showing boats docked at the Isar river close to the city of Landshut.
Roadtrip in Texas
After a week-long observing run in Texas, having collected data in sufficient amounts to keep ourselves busy until next year, we enjoyed the scenic route back to the airport, the road leading up into the magnificient mountain pass below the clouds.
An astronomer in Texas – 8
–part 8 of the essay An astronomer in Texas– Our visibility was extremely poor in the following night, i.e. while we couldn’t detect a cloud with our sky surveillance camera, stars appeared to be much fainter than they should be. Since we wanted to do spectroscopy where every photon counts, this was a huge problem. […]
Infrared ash and full moon
Sometimes, strange things occur in astronomy and this was one of those nights. While observing in Texas, we realized that our instruments recorded almost no light but the sky was cloud-free. I therefore went outside to take infrared images which is when we finally realized what was going on. Seen here, the pink glow in […]
An astronomer in Texas – 9
–part 9 of the essay An astronomer in Texas– The next day, with an early end of the night due to the ash particles, we decided to take a walk and explore the surrounding area. The so-called red edge makes every plant appear very bright in the infrared and cacti are no exception – they […]
