All Sky Cameras - Cool Stuff !
All sky cameras point upward and use a fisheye lens to capture a picture of the sky - night or day. Automated all sky cameras run continuously and provide summary movies each morning.
In areas with light pollution, any clouds present will reflect that pollution downward, lighting up the ground. In areas with natural, pristine skies, any clouds appear dark and hide the stars, reducing the light coming downward.
All Sky Cameras also capture unusual events, such as Northern Lights from Central Oregon.
At a few locations in Oregon, we have simultaneous acquisition of all sky camera images and measurements of the night sky brightness. The following movies show both of those data sets together. The night sky brightness data has an audio track. As the movie plays, the pitch of the sound that you hear is tied to the night sky brightness. The circle in the middle of the all sky movie shows the approximate zone where the night sky brightness meter sees the sky. Click the audio symbol in the lower right to turn on the sound.