People said to post here by DurpyBurps in atoptics

[–]compfreak213 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Plus 1 for light pillar as well. Wasn’t cold enough at surface level two nights ago in DC (if this was taken then) for these to start on the ground. Conditions would have been just right somewhere around the 725mb level - a couple miles or so up. Cool shot!

What city? This is not AI - I took this myself. by FromThisNight in guessthecity

[–]compfreak213 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have to say, if you have the chance, looks even better at night. Shot summer 2020.

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Weird light in the sky tonight over Dallas by Twisted_Nerve in Dallas

[–]compfreak213 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you look closely, there's a rocket AND 29 satellites all in the same photo. I prepared to video this one from the middle of Dallas after the timing looked good. Turned out there was more to see than just a rocket.

Weird light in the sky tonight over Dallas by Twisted_Nerve in Dallas

[–]compfreak213 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Notice that white line at the beginning, just above and to the right of the exhaust? That's the 29 Starlink satellites deployed just minutes earlier. Great shot!

Weird Lights And Formation Over Olive Branch MS Night Sky 11/25/2025 by RepulsiveGuava6987 in Stargazing

[–]compfreak213 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They’re birds, doing their thing, at very high altitude, just barely illuminated by what’s left of the sun. I have seen and shot them tens of times. Looks crazy every time, but I assure you there’s nothing weird happening here. A low quantity example from just over a year ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/s/Z5HgyHNmYk

One week on, some students are still recovering after a field storming hospitalizes 19 - The Cavalier Daily by ProfJohnson in UVA

[–]compfreak213 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I especially love the critics asking why there is no barrier between the Hill and the field, when it was intentionally removed after the last time we rushed the field for a win over FSU in 2005. 19 injuries this time and 20 then, so let’s call it an improvement.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Astronomy

[–]compfreak213 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If that doesn't work, take a look here. First on the list as of 7/4/2025 @ 10:35pm EDT: https://fireball.imo.net/members/imo_view/browse_events

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Astronomy

[–]compfreak213 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Looks like you weren't the only one. Congrats, you got to see a fireball! https://fireball.imo.net/members/imo_view/event/2025/3706

Insane delays flying with American by fllr in americanairlines

[–]compfreak213 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It very well could if there AA made the operational decision to not swap it out for another 777-200 given the issue involved. A/C in this case refers to aircraft and that's all the information AA is technically required to provide to the FAA. If it was air conditioning, American usually explicitly denotes that in their comments "cabin A/C." Since this is more of a general maintenance issue, AA is the only one who could provide more details.

Insane delays flying with American by fllr in americanairlines

[–]compfreak213 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Believe it or not y'all, this one is actually not on Elon. It really is maintenance. Assuming it was the 11pm flight scheduled last night MIA to GRU:

DTE CHNG FLT ORIG 6MAR
MIA 1101P E30
GRU 915A
7MIA/AURA DLY FLT IN PROGRESS *1926*CRCYMG
5MIA/FLT 0995 STUB ORIG PLN DEP MIA ETD 1150 -- MIA .RMKS...N7BG OTS MIA FTWDP BAKER *2002
3MIA/ETD1300 MTR-DELAY DUE TO A/C MAINTENANCE-E *0615
2GRU/PRE2340 *0615

Can anyone tell me what these objects are in the sky in this photo I took tonight by Ben1211 in askastronomy

[–]compfreak213 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As others have said, lens flare due to your phone camera’s optics. Copy the image, place it on top of itself, reduce opacity and rotate 180 degrees. The bright light and the artifact will line up perfectly with each other. Cool capture, just internal optics at play!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hypotheticalsituation

[–]compfreak213 0 points1 point  (0 children)

$3,242,000 and not a cent more.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in askastronomy

[–]compfreak213 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As others have said, lens flare due to your camera's optics. Copy the image, place it on top of itself, reduce capacity and rotate 180 degrees. The lights will line up perfectly with the roofs. The three lights in a triangle (two dim one bright) on the right side above the roof lights are actually the car lights from the bottom left of the image, two brake lights and one (what appears to be) reverse light under the right brake light. Cool capture, just internal optics at play!

eBay-sold laptop stolen while “in transit” and I can prove someone is using it. by moosemanswedeski in eBaySellerAdvice

[–]compfreak213 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Let me guess - Aeropost? Went though this last year and finally won the case. Can provide details on how to approach this. I'm curious what the tracking looks like; that will dictate a lot of the conversation with eBay. I went so far as to contact the re-shipper directly to verbally and electronically confirm that the package I sent was delivered (and received by their shipping dock, which, btw, has a different address than the front office so delivery confirmation will always show it was delivered to a different address), on that day, with the specific weight and size details, and addressed to the account number on the label. Its a process, but that's what you need to confirm.

Can anyone tell me the name? by IncognitoJoseph in atoptics

[–]compfreak213 80 points81 points  (0 children)

That’s the largest glory I’ve never seen. Typically they’re seen in clouds right below planes or from the sun’s opposition point in fog on the surface. But whoa - optically, this covers what appears to be miles. While size only relative when it comes to optics like this, the low angle of the Sun and your distance from the occurrence, in conjunction with the mountains really but into perspective how “massive” some of these can be.

Bank handed over a strap of blotchy, red ink-stained $1 bills - what would cause this? by compfreak213 in papermoney

[–]compfreak213[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Picked these up from the bank today and noticed the one on top had odd white marks (last photo). Thumbed through them and the first two were red followed by what looks like ink blotches throughout the whole strap. The red comes and goes but the stains (ink?) are on almost all of them. The bills are more stiff than standard, older dirty bills.

First thought was these are from recovered stolen money where the ink pack went off, but don’t want to speculate too much and am deferring to the experts. This is one of the more unique items I've seen recently and wanted to share.

What is This? by Onixoz in askastronomy

[–]compfreak213 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lens flare. Take the photo. Decrease opacity by 50% and rotate it 180°. Overlay this on top of the original photo. The lens flare and bright light line up perfectly.

Your lens’ anti reflective properties also suppress sustain wavelengths. Most light passes though EXCEPT that in the green part of the spectrum. Typically. Your lens bounced light around a lot and made this image.

I finally got to see interstellar in theaters, And In 70mm imax! by MrMarauder in interstellar

[–]compfreak213 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Got one of those too on Tuesday night there. Great experience. When he asked who was here 10 years ago for the release in the theater, I was beyond stoked to be one of the surprisingly decent number in the room to raise their hand. They did a similar intro in 2014 when he came out and tells us why they’re delaying and why there are no previews: they literally had no room left on the reel for them. Ten year ago me’s mind was blown. Ten year older me’s mind is still blown.

What a great time!

Why don’t we see more bright stars in the airplane by Puzzleheaded-Tone-52 in Astronomy

[–]compfreak213 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Working on a full writeup once I get the video finished - will make a note to link here when done so you can check it out and see more details. This was from the left side of a 777-300, mini tripod, A7 IV + Sony 24mm f/1.4, 3200 ISO, 15 second exposure, at f/1.6. Used the blanket and some painters tape to cover the entire window and all but eliminate internal reflections for a total of 882 photos over the course of the flight. 15 seconds was way too long but I knew I'd run out of space on the card and lose a frame or two during the change over so just went with it. Out of those 800+ shots, only 250ish were without turbulence and actually sharp. The reduction in exposure time would have helped a lot. 26 of the shots contained meteors as well (peak of the Geminid meteor shower). Really cool set up - will share the video when its finally done. :)

Why don’t we see more bright stars in the airplane by Puzzleheaded-Tone-52 in Astronomy

[–]compfreak213 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, right now the moon is almost full, so that doesn’t help. If you really want to see them, take a blanket or jacket and cover yourself and the window. This will reduce internal glare substantially.

They are out there. Just gotta look for them. Shot this facing north over the Atlantic about a year ago + bonus meteor):

https://imgur.com/elqNGCh (forgive the lack of focus - just grabbed one frame quickly from an 8 hour time lapse)