>Betelgeuse grand minimum is not that grand
For a few months from now Betelgeuse (Alpha Orion) dim so much, that it looks as bright as the stars in the Orion belt. This is not so disturbing and does not mean that cataclysmic events are happening with it. This brightness lost is mostly in the visual spectrum. The star is still shining as the brightest one in the constellation, when looked into the inferred spectrum. Below is comparison of the Orion constellation seen in visible and inferred light. In visible Rigel (Beta Orion) seems to be the brightest star. However in Inferred, Betelgeuse outshines it quite a lot.
We all hope that this star will explode in near future, so we will have some nice target for shots and research. For our luck it is just far enough not to cause any troubles :)
Orion in Infrared:
Betelgeuse spectrum. White is infrared, Orange is Halpha.
You no more need large sensors and heavy equipment to do good general photos. The recent development of image sensors put silicon chip capabilities to it's limit by
Knowing what you are looking for is more then half way to achieving it. Breakthrough Listen is a SETI kind of project that listen for artificial signals from 1700 nearby stars up to 160 light years.
Some shots from Sofia. A very bright sky place. Zenith sky brightness info (2015): SQM 19.13 mag./arc sec2 Brightness 2.41 mcd/m2, Artif. bright. 2230 μcd/m2, Bortle class 6.
It is very important how you manage your data. So much shots, so much frames. They are full of hidden data that could be revealed later. The far we look the more we see. Each feint dot could be a galaxy far far way.
Nowadays we are so into the globalization and technologies, that I can submit observation plan to a remote, professional observatory at the other part of the word!
