The Night Sky Live: Catalog of Phenomena

concam.net: The night sky can be a confusing place. What follows is a catalog of phenomena recorded by the CONCAM that has been successfully identified. The phenomena listed are increasingly rare as one scrolls down the page. If you have seen a new or different phenomena with a CONCAM and would like it added to this list, please email nemiroff@mtu.edu.nospam being sure to remove the "nospam".

Galactic Plane: The faint band of light running from the lower left to the upper right is the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. The Galactic plane contains billions of stars that cannot be individually resolved.

Moon Overexposure: The Moon is very bright and frequently overexposes. The digital CCD camera then blooms out along one axis preferentially. Also visible are internal reflections of the bright moonlight inside the camera. The most obvious "ghost" effect is a bright circle, but other ghost image affects are also visible. The Moon is in the CONCAM field half of the time.

Clouds: Clouds will obscure stars and typically appear as diffuse emission. When stars are not visible clouds are usually to blame. Low thunderstorm clouds can make the entire frame completely dark, while high cirrus clouds can be almost invisible. Although major astronomical observatories are located in places that have relatively good weather, clouds are still relatively common sights.

Airglow: Airglow is actually very common and is easily mistakable for high cirrus clouds. Airglow is usually distinguished by the geometric patterns it makes on the sky. It is picked up so well because CONCAMs are quite sensitive to red light, where airglow is particularly prevalent.

Zodiacal Light: Zodiacal Light is frequently visible near sunrise and sunset in CONCAM images. It can be seen as a brightening near the Sun's horizon and can extend across the sky. The cause is sunlight scattering off of dust in the plane where planets orbit the Sun in our Solar System. CONCAMs are quite sensitive to zodiacal light because of their extremely wide field of view (180 degrees). Zodiacal light is visible even in the above "Airglow" image.

Meteors: Meteors are not always as obvious as the 2001 Leonid Fireball. Each CONCAM may record perhaps one obvious meteor per night, but meteors are not so prevalent on CONCAM images as one might believe. The reason is that CONCAM exposures last for minutes, so that fleeting meteors are frequently washed out into the background. Still, CONCAMs provide perhaps the most complete records of bright meteors in showers and perhaps the best continuing record of sporadic fireballs. Meteors usually have much shorter trails that pictured above. A meteor should not be visible in the preceding or trailing CONCAM frame.

Airplanes: Airplanes are seen in some CONCAMs more than others. In particular, Mt. Wilson, California and Rosemary Hill, Florida image many airplanes, particularly just after sunset. Airplanes are usually distinguished by bright streaks. Many times the streaks cut off abruptly as the CONCAM exposure either started or ended with the plane still crossing the field. Sometimes flashing lights on planes are sees as a series of dots on CONCAM images.

Satellites Trails: Satellites can reflect sunlight sometimes creating bright trails across the night sky. Above the KP CONCAM caught not only a Space Shuttle but the International Space Station in the same frame. The shuttle had recently undocked from the station. Satellites appear as drifting points to the unaided eye but since CONCAMs integrate for minutes, trails can appear. Bright satellite events are sometimes documented and archived at heavens-above.com.

Satellite Glints: Satellites can momentarily reflect a great amount of sunlight toward the Earth when aligned just right. Bright flares -- brighter than any star in the sky -- can result and last several seconds. Satellite glints are particularly abundant near sunrise and sunset, when the sun shines on low Earth-orbit satellites but not on the observer. Iridium satellites are well known to produce particularly bright glints. As with satellite trails, satellite glints can be sometimes predicted or explained by searching for them at heavens-above.com.

Auroras: Aurora are actually quite rare in CONCAM images due to their locations being so far from the Earth's north and south poles. One at least one occasion, however, a clear aurora was seen by a CONCAM, as indicated on the left. Aurora are typically visible toward the north as a glow on the horizon, but distinguishable overhead by their unusual patterns and by the fact that you can see stars through them, unlike clouds. Many auroras follow explosive Sun events by about three days, and so can be predicted. Auroral activity forecasts can be found here.

Frost or Snow: Since CONCAMs tend to on the tops of mountains and dormant volcanoes, snow or frost will occasionally cover them. We have no snow-removal service -- we expect that the snow will melt during the day. Snow does not appear to harm a CONCAM. Snow can be distinguished from clouds because it usually choppier, the pattern visible does not change from frame to frame, and no objects around the periphery are visible (such as the Subaru dome at the top of most MK images).

Fog: Fog can appear really strange, as the sky can disappear as a white blob while telescopes, etc. that surround the CONCAM can simultaneously appear clearly resolved. As fog develops the sky can appear to shrink up into a small hole in the middle and then just go away completely.

Telescope Laser Beam: On rare occasions a telescope at a major observatory will shoot a laser beam up at the sky. This is done to create a "virtual star" that can then be tracked with precision and allow the telescope to focus better. Such was the case when the Keck Observatory put up a laser guide star last December. What was unexpected was that the CONCAM movie showed flashes occuring near the end of the beam. These flashes are now understood to be sub-visual cirrus clouds passing through the laser.

Dew Condensation: Sometimes in mornings just before sunrise, dew will condense on the lens, making things blurry. Usually the dew spot will start in the middle and work its way out. Dew will condense when the air is relatively saturated with water and the lens is cooler than the air. Usually the electronics inside CONCAMs heat the lens to be slightly warmer than the outside air, however sometimes, during sunrise, the air warms up faster than the lens. We estimate that we lose less than 1 percent of CONCAM frames to dew, and so have not taken drastic measures to stop it.

Lightning: Unusual looking dark spots that don't move might be rain drops that have not yet evaporated. These might occur during lightning storms, as pictured to the left. Normally, the clouds on the East would not be so bright, but a bright lightning stroke lit them up. When lightning occurs closer to the camera it can white out the whole frame.

Ghost: The ghost of CONCAM can be seen here laughing at our feeble attempts to monitor the entire night sky. Many children think that the "Ghost of CONCAM" is just a silly myth but we can see here that it is not.

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	Galactic Plane: The faint band of light running from the lower left to the upper right is the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. The Galactic plane contains billions of stars that cannot be individually resolved.
	Moon Overexposure: The Moon is very bright and frequently overexposes. The digital CCD camera then blooms out along one axis preferentially. Also visible are internal reflections of the bright moonlight inside the camera. The most obvious "ghost" effect is a bright circle, but other ghost image affects are also visible. The Moon is in the CONCAM field half of the time.
	Clouds: Clouds will obscure stars and typically appear as diffuse emission. When stars are not visible clouds are usually to blame. Low thunderstorm clouds can make the entire frame completely dark, while high cirrus clouds can be almost invisible. Although major astronomical observatories are located in places that have relatively good weather, clouds are still relatively common sights.
	Airglow: Airglow is actually very common and is easily mistakable for high cirrus clouds. Airglow is usually distinguished by the geometric patterns it makes on the sky. It is picked up so well because CONCAMs are quite sensitive to red light, where airglow is particularly prevalent.
	Zodiacal Light: Zodiacal Light is frequently visible near sunrise and sunset in CONCAM images. It can be seen as a brightening near the Sun's horizon and can extend across the sky. The cause is sunlight scattering off of dust in the plane where planets orbit the Sun in our Solar System. CONCAMs are quite sensitive to zodiacal light because of their extremely wide field of view (180 degrees). Zodiacal light is visible even in the above "Airglow" image.
	Meteors: Meteors are not always as obvious as the 2001 Leonid Fireball. Each CONCAM may record perhaps one obvious meteor per night, but meteors are not so prevalent on CONCAM images as one might believe. The reason is that CONCAM exposures last for minutes, so that fleeting meteors are frequently washed out into the background. Still, CONCAMs provide perhaps the most complete records of bright meteors in showers and perhaps the best continuing record of sporadic fireballs. Meteors usually have much shorter trails that pictured above. A meteor should not be visible in the preceding or trailing CONCAM frame.
	Airplanes: Airplanes are seen in some CONCAMs more than others. In particular, Mt. Wilson, California and Rosemary Hill, Florida image many airplanes, particularly just after sunset. Airplanes are usually distinguished by bright streaks. Many times the streaks cut off abruptly as the CONCAM exposure either started or ended with the plane still crossing the field. Sometimes flashing lights on planes are sees as a series of dots on CONCAM images.
	Satellites Trails: Satellites can reflect sunlight sometimes creating bright trails across the night sky. Above the KP CONCAM caught not only a Space Shuttle but the International Space Station in the same frame. The shuttle had recently undocked from the station. Satellites appear as drifting points to the unaided eye but since CONCAMs integrate for minutes, trails can appear. Bright satellite events are sometimes documented and archived at heavens-above.com.
	Satellite Glints: Satellites can momentarily reflect a great amount of sunlight toward the Earth when aligned just right. Bright flares -- brighter than any star in the sky -- can result and last several seconds. Satellite glints are particularly abundant near sunrise and sunset, when the sun shines on low Earth-orbit satellites but not on the observer. Iridium satellites are well known to produce particularly bright glints. As with satellite trails, satellite glints can be sometimes predicted or explained by searching for them at heavens-above.com.
	Auroras: Aurora are actually quite rare in CONCAM images due to their locations being so far from the Earth's north and south poles. One at least one occasion, however, a clear aurora was seen by a CONCAM, as indicated on the left. Aurora are typically visible toward the north as a glow on the horizon, but distinguishable overhead by their unusual patterns and by the fact that you can see stars through them, unlike clouds. Many auroras follow explosive Sun events by about three days, and so can be predicted. Auroral activity forecasts can be found here.
	Frost or Snow: Since CONCAMs tend to on the tops of mountains and dormant volcanoes, snow or frost will occasionally cover them. We have no snow-removal service -- we expect that the snow will melt during the day. Snow does not appear to harm a CONCAM. Snow can be distinguished from clouds because it usually choppier, the pattern visible does not change from frame to frame, and no objects around the periphery are visible (such as the Subaru dome at the top of most MK images).
	Fog: Fog can appear really strange, as the sky can disappear as a white blob while telescopes, etc. that surround the CONCAM can simultaneously appear clearly resolved. As fog develops the sky can appear to shrink up into a small hole in the middle and then just go away completely.
	Telescope Laser Beam: On rare occasions a telescope at a major observatory will shoot a laser beam up at the sky. This is done to create a "virtual star" that can then be tracked with precision and allow the telescope to focus better. Such was the case when the Keck Observatory put up a laser guide star last December. What was unexpected was that the CONCAM movie showed flashes occuring near the end of the beam. These flashes are now understood to be sub-visual cirrus clouds passing through the laser.
	Dew Condensation: Sometimes in mornings just before sunrise, dew will condense on the lens, making things blurry. Usually the dew spot will start in the middle and work its way out. Dew will condense when the air is relatively saturated with water and the lens is cooler than the air. Usually the electronics inside CONCAMs heat the lens to be slightly warmer than the outside air, however sometimes, during sunrise, the air warms up faster than the lens. We estimate that we lose less than 1 percent of CONCAM frames to dew, and so have not taken drastic measures to stop it.
	Lightning: Unusual looking dark spots that don't move might be rain drops that have not yet evaporated. These might occur during lightning storms, as pictured to the left. Normally, the clouds on the East would not be so bright, but a bright lightning stroke lit them up. When lightning occurs closer to the camera it can white out the whole frame.
	Ghost: The ghost of CONCAM can be seen here laughing at our feeble attempts to monitor the entire night sky. Many children think that the "Ghost of CONCAM" is just a silly myth but we can see here that it is not.