Latest Image
Change camera
About the Cameras
The cameras are SBIG AllSky-340 cameras, run by the University of Hertfordshire and situted at four locations in the UK. The first camera was set up at the university's observatory at Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire in October 2009. A further camera was added at Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire in July 2010, and two more near Niton, Isle of Wight and near Cromer, Norfolk in August 2010.The Hemel camera was later moved to Exmoor, and the Cromer camera relocated to Guernsey.
FAQs
- Q. What do the numbers on the left of the pictures mean?
- Q. Why is the sky totally white/covered in white lines?
- Q. What work has been done with the cameras so far?
A. (From the top going down):
1) The date in the format year/month/day
2) The time the image was taken, in Universal Time (UTC)
3) The exposure length of the image in seconds
4) The individual image number (i.e. number of images taken so far)
A. As the camera is a very sensitive astronomical instrument, if the sun is up (even at the shortest exposure time) the sky will be very overexposed and appear mostly white. For this reason the cameras usually only run between sunset and sunrise.
A. The results of the work done with the Bayfordbury camera from October 2009 to April 2010 can be viewed here.