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I was very fortunate last week to capture sunset video that contained the green flash, not over one sunset, but 3 consecutive sunsets (unprecedented).
To me, this is quantifiable and visible proof that the "Green" flash is a real thing, not merely an after image trick of the eye.
The gear used is my ASI 120MC hooked up to my Canon 55-250mm EF-S zoom lens set at 100mm. Focus was very tricky and finicky, basically, you try your best to get the sharpest image possible.
Shot with SharpCap 3.2 at 12fps.
The first image is the beginning of sunset and the second image is the end of the sunset - the Green flash.
Cropped Green 4.jpg (14.33 KiB) Viewed 4505 times
Enjoy,
JT
PS, a few days ago you may have seen a post from me about a corrupted AVI file. This file is from the sunset on 24 Jan. 3 of 5 witnesses claim they saw the Purple flash. But of course, this is the corrupted video file. jt :flame: Scroll down!
Very nice capture! I've been a long term fan of the phenomenon and caught it visually on clear sunrises over Lake Michigan. There was a book from the Vatican Observatory that described it and the weather conditions required for it to present. It had many photos an is a fond memory from over 50 years ago.
Both images are really nice. Capturing the “green flash” is awesome!
Any idea what the flash could be caused by?
Thanks
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
Juno16 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:40 amAny idea what the flash could be caused by?
Green flashes occur because the atmosphere refracts, or bends, light from the Sun, especially when it's near the horizon, where our line of sight traverses hundreds of miles of the lower atmosphere. Air is denser there and particularly so when our line of sight grazes the horizon. A prism spreads sunlight into a rainbow of colors according to wavelength, from blue at one end to red at the other. Different colors of light are refracted by different amounts because they travel at slightly different speeds through the glass. Short wavelength violet travels slowest and suffers the strongest refraction compared to red light, which is refracted least.
Dense air near the horizon acts like its own prism and spreads sunlight into a rainbow of closely overlapping images of the solar disk, each a different color from violet to red. The spreading of light according to color is called dispersion, and it’s small enough that most of those images overlap and produce white light . . . except at the very top and bottom of the solar disk. Blue and green, the most strongly refracted colors, stand highest above the horizon and fringe the Sun's top edge blue-green. Red, the least bent, forms a red fringe at the bottom. [Courtesy of Sky & Tel]
To give a better perspective, here is my wintertime view to the southwest. I get 61-62 days around the winter solstice where the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean. This is how I have access to viewing the Green flash.
I got the corrupted AVI file from the sunset on 23 January fixed by Robin Glover of SharpCap fame and here are the images that vid contained. They are amazing! Never before have I witnessed this phenomenon as it is an extremely rare event.
I present not only the Green but also the Blue and Purple flash. These images were mildly tweaked in PSCC (a single level and a single curves adjustment)
Very cool, JT. Congratulations on these special captures. I've seen the green flash a number of times here on the west coast of Mexico and once over Lake Michigan. It's always a treat, as is viewing your photos!
Baskevo wrote: ↑Tue Jan 28, 2020 4:03 am
So cool! Did you plan for this JT or did the flash just happen while you were shooting the sunset?
Hi James,
You can't plan for the Green flash, you can only prepare. The vast majority of sunsets over water don't ever show the Green flash. So the Green flash all by itself is a rare treat. Getting a blue and purple flash is probably a once-in-a-lifetime event.
BTW, this is my third year of trying to image the Green flash by watching every over-water sunset that is about to occur. If it looks like a candidate sunset I quickly go grab my stuff and get ready to image. Many times with the camera gear setup there was no Green flash. And many more times when it looked like it wouldn't occur and I did not set up a camera, it did occur. Since moving here, I have seen approximately 14 to 15 green flashes but that was the only color I saw.
I bet you were about ready to throw all your gear out the window when you couldn't load those files huh?? Haha I'm happy that you were able to recover the once-in-a-lifetime frames! I would have cried lol
-James W.
Telescope:Explore Scientific 80mm FCD100 Triplet APO Refractor Mount:EQ6-RPro Cameras:ZWO ASI1600mm Pro (Cooled) | Canon DSLR EOS T7i Auto-guiding:ZWO ASI120mm-Mini + Astromania 50mm Guidescope
You know, it makes you ask the question, of the three video files that recorded the sunset, why is it the one with the most important data was the broken one?
I have seen the green flash once but not the blue other than in pictures and never have seen the purple/ violet, congratulations.
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Baskevo wrote: ↑Tue Jan 28, 2020 4:03 am
So cool! Did you plan for this JT or did the flash just happen while you were shooting the sunset?
Hi James,
You can't plan for the Green flash, you can only prepare. The vast majority of sunsets over water don't ever show the Green flash. So the Green flash all by itself is a rare treat. Getting a blue and purple flash is probably a once-in-a-lifetime event.
BTW, this is my third year of trying to image the Green flash by watching every over-water sunset that is about to occur. If it looks like a candidate sunset I quickly go grab my stuff and get ready to image. Many times with the camera gear setup there was no Green flash. And many more times when it looked like it wouldn't occur and I did not set up a camera, it did occur. Since moving here, I have seen approximately 14 to 15 green flashes but that was the only color I saw.
Cheers,
JT
I can't get tired of sunsets. When we are on vacation in Hawaii, we watch them every day. Getting green flash is a cherry on top.