Ghost boat ("Cuki") at night. In the continuing saga of the "Cuki," the 45-foot sailboat washed ashore in Melbourne Beach, Florida, I present this image from Wednesday evening. Unhappily, the boat has become a target for looters. When I arrived, Ian Gronsky had chased off a guy and his teenage son who were trying to make off with the canopy, and it seems several things (including the mannequins!!) are missing. Please note that because it is still sea turtle nesting season, lights are prohibited on beaches until after October 31. I planned to shoot in the dark, but Ian called the police to deal with the looters, and the police used big flashlights to check out the scene. And, the top of the mast isn't discolored, but rather it is orange from the cast of the streetlights from the road/parking lot behind me, and the mast is just tall enough to reflect the light that shines over the berm that separates the beach from the road. (Some of the lines are reflecting electing it as well.) Details: This image is a merge of 78 30-second exposures (ISO3200, f8) to show the movement of the stars, and then I had one frame from when I was setting up and framing the shot that was shot at ISO800 and f5.6 for 54-seconds that captured the officer's flashlight sweeping over the boat. Initial edits were done in Lightroom, and the stacking was done in Photoshop. (Photo by Michael Seeley)

Meet the "Cuki," a 45-foot sailboat that washed ashore in Melbourne Beach, Florida sometime Monday night. Fox 35 WOFL is calling it a "ghost boat," a title it surely deserves, as it is entirely devoid of life. It did, however, have mannequins on board. (If you think I'm kidding, simply hop over to Ian Gronosky's post to see.) The boat is labeled as coming out of New Rochelle, New York, but according to the Fox35 report, "a representative for the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said that the boat is registered in Key West and deputies believe it was washed northward by Hurricane Irma and other storms raging through the Atlantic. The Sheriff’s Office has contacted the Coast Guard to track down an owner." Interestingly, a Google search revealed some information about the boat's owner, including an image of the boat from May 2016 (and the mannequins!) posted to a sailing blog titled "Make Like an Ape Man." In the blog, the author describes the boat's owner Jeff and a dog named Cinnamon as having lived on the boat. I don't know what happened to Cinnamon, but, after a little more poking around, it seems that Jeff is (essentially) fine, or at least not drowned, because he's in jail... (Photo by Michael Seeley, September 20, 2017, in Melbourne Beach, Florida)

I've been admiring some of the really great post-Irma surfing photos in my feed the past couple of days (including some really great drone work) from the many talented photographers in the area (too many to list here, sorry). I'd like to add that although I've been around surf for some time now, I really don't know all that much about riding it. But, thanks to Justin's posts/comments, I've recently learned two things: 1. It's not cool to "blast" a great surf location, and, 2. The word "shorepound", which I'd love to use in a sentence, but until I know what it is, I'll refrain. Anyway, here's my attempt to take a surfing picture, seen from Satellite Beach, Florida, earlier this (Saturday) afternoon. (Picture taken September 16, 2017)

Something about this scene, the fence that Irma wrecked and the woman sitting in the shade with a face mask pulled down, it just caught my eye as I was driving home from work. (She's looking at her phone, maybe filming her companion working by the fence.) Three days post-hurricane and this section of town is still without power so there will be little temperature relief for this couple once they go inside. (Photo taken September 13, 2017)

What a difference a day makes: It's strange to think that just 24 hours previously, I, along with many, many others affected by Hurricane Irma, were huddled inside, listening to gusts of hurricane-strength wind, wondering if the roof would hold, if a tornado (caused by the hurricane) was coming for us, wondering when the power would go out, or maybe wondering if the storm would wake Lauren. (For the record, it didn't. We put her to bed late, but she slept through Irma.) I suppose the combination of Hurricane Irma clearing the air (I think that's a thing, after-storm air being more clear) and millions of Floridians without power and therefore, less light, makes this Milky Way photo novel, as it was taken just minutes away from my house. This is as opposed to the 60+ minute drive I normally endure in search of dark skies. I'd normally spend more time processing this image, but I'm simply too tired, to the point where I'm sleep-editing, literally, falling asleep at my computer screen. So, I'm posting as is. Details: 30 secs, ISO3200, f2.8 shot using a Canon full-frame sensor, taken at the western end of the Pineda, just to the west of I-95.

Watching, waiting, wondering and 'murica: The Saturday scene from Satellite Beach, Florida as the Space Coast awaits the arrival of Hurricane #Irma. We ventured over to the beach for a few moments earlier and found many curious to see how the ocean was doing. We didn't see anyone surfing, maybe because those who have tried have already been sucked out to sea, or because the hardcore surfers are waiting for things to pick up even more. (Photo by Michael Seeley, September 9, 2017, from Satellite Beach, Florida)

I ventured out for my nightly pre-Irma foraging expedition and found things to be fairly calm. Our local Publix was well provisioned, and after topping off our supplies (how could I have forgotten chips and salsa, or, perhaps more importantly, wine?) I explored a bit. This picture was taken from the Eau Gallie Causeway, looking toward the Melbourne Causeway and downtown Melbourne. It's rained off and on today, and we've (as you can see) had some thunder and lightning, all as the Space Coast prepares to meet Irma. (Photo taken September 8, 2017)

With a hurricane bearing down on Florida, the Space Coast was still able to see the International Space Station and astronauts Paolo Nespoli, Sergey Ryazanskiy and Commander Randy Bresnik meet the Full Corn Moon of September 6, 2017, seen here from Titusville, Florida, just across the river from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The transit occurred at 3:39 am, and it lasted for 1.06 seconds. Of note, at least to me: this is just 36 minutes after the Moon was 100% illuminated. In other words, this is probably the fullest Moon I've ever photographed, and it happens to have the ISS passing in front of it. Also, the forecast called for mostly cloudy skies, and in fact, when I woke up (at 2 am), the skies above my house (45 minutes away from the centerline) were completely cloudy. But, the sky above Titusville was clear. And, full of mosquitos. Technical details: This was shot using a Canon 5D4 in 4k video mode at 29.97fps at ISO800 and 1/2500 sec. For optics, I'm using a Celestron 8" telescope with a focal reducer. 34 individual frames (each of the ISS frames and two frames of just the Moon) were extracted, processed in Lightroom, combined using the "darken" mode in Photoshop, and then final adjustments were made (again) in Lightroom. To plan the transit, I used transit-finder.com and calsky.com. Details of the transit (from transit-finder.com) are: "Wednesday 2017-09-06 03:39:01.52 • Lunar transit ISS angular size: 45.75″; distance: 603.91 km Angular separation: 0.0′; azimuth: 226.5°; altitude: 40.6° Center line distance: 0.03 km; visibility path width: 5.55 km Transit duration: 1.06 s; transit chord length: 31.4′ R.A.: 23h 02m; Dec: -08° 25′; parallactic angle: -36.9° ISS velocity: 29.6 ′/s (angular); 5.21 km/s (transverse) ISS velocity: -5.24 km/s (radial); 7.39 km/s (total); Direction of motion relative to zenith: -2.1° Moon angular size: 31.4′; 41.2 times larger than the ISS Moon phase: 100.0%; angular separation from Sun: 177.8° Sun altitude: -41.9°; the ISS will be in shadow" (Photo by Michael Seeley)

#Sunset on a cloudy Sunday, seen over Lake Washington in Melbourne, Florida. Happy Labor Day Weekend.

Another beautiful #sunset tonight, seen here over Lake Washington from Melbourne, Florida. (Picture taken August 31, 2017 by Michael Seeley)

Taking pictures of people taking pictures of the sunset. (Lake Washington in Melbourne, Florida)

First Quarter Moon, not blocking the Sun. (Too soon for eclipse jokes? Or, maybe too late...) "PHASE DETAILS FOR - TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2017 Phase: First Quarter Illumination: 51% Moon Age: 7.52 days Moon Angle: 0.49 Moon Distance: 404,863.17 km Sun Angle: 0.53 Sun Distance: 151,050,308.50 km" (Pic by me, details courtesy of moongiant.com)

At 2:04am (ET) on Saturday, August 26, 2017 Orbitak ATK successfully launch the ORS-5 satellite from Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The satellite was launched atop at Minotaur IV missile/rocket. Many Space Coast residents stayed up late (or got up early) to watch the launch. This was the first time since 1999 that SLC-46 has been used. And, the last time a Mintaur rocket was launched was in September, 2011. (Photo by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)

The total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, seen from Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina. In the foreground are two F-16 Fighting Falcons from the F-16 Viper Demo team, parked at the end of the runway for us to use as subjects. Composited into the image are shots of the Sun as it marches toward (and then, away from) totality. I had set the interval timer to capture a frame every 5 minutes, but because of clouds (and, at times, rain), there is some inconsistency in the spacing and the exposure of the sun. The images represent two hours of motion, with the first image taken at 1:46 pm (ET) and the last frame taken at 3:45 pm. The flare of light (it is hard to make out in a wide shot like this, but it's almost the "diamond ring" effect) is the totality coming to an end, and this is the last image I would take before replacing the solar filter for the rest of the sequence. Specs for the background image: ISO500, f11, .5 second exposure. The settings for the shots of the sun vary widely depending on clouds and how far the eclipse had progressed. And, because the sun was so high in the sky, I (naturally) framed the shot vertically and was shooting with a 17-40mm lens set to 23mm, on a full-frame Canon body. And, again, big thanks to the Public Affairs and Communication teams at Shaw Air Force Base and to the F-16 Viper Demo team for moving these planes into position for us, and for being so entirely hospitable to the We Report Space team.

The symmetry (or lack thereof) in this #TotalEclipse2017 composite messes with my (selective) OCD, but as I previously mentioned, clouds and rain prevented the evenly-spaced time-lapse I had planned, so this is the closest I can come up with (at least on the little sleep I'm operating on) at the moment. These were all taken through the 8" Celestron telescope (with a focal reducer), and it shows on the left roughly 14 minutes of the Sun before totality (center) and then 18 minutes of the Sun after totality on the right. The telescope was fairly faithful in its tracking of the Sun, and the camera was driven by Jared Haworth's computer. Photos were taken at Shaw Air Force Base with the great help of the F-16 Viper Demo Team.

And the day turned to night: quick car edits of the #Eclipse2017 as seen from Shaw Air Force Base over the F-16 Viper Demo Team. It was magical. Clouds and occasional light rain would harass us through much of time before the totality, and maybe 90 seconds before the moment we were all waiting for, there was a cloud in the way. But, it moved. I'll try to cobble together a time-lapse out of the cloudy pre- and post-totality shots, but for now, here is a shot showing the two F-16 Fighting Falcons under the eclipse. #TotalEclipse2017, seen from Shaw Air Force Base, over the F-16 Viper Demo Team. Specs: ISO500, f5, 1/6 second exposure time.

The total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 seen through and 8" Celestron Telescope from Sumter, SC and Shaw Air Force Base.

Morning rocket launches require arriving at Kennedy Space Center at the crack of dawn. For the #TDRSM launch, we met at the Press Site at 6 am, and on our way to load the bus that would take the media to our respective viewing locations, we were treated to a fantastic sunrise, complete with my newly learned phenomena, anti-crepuscular rays. Legend: Top left: 6:42 am, 12 minutes before sunrise, with crepuscular rays in the sky. Note the Press Site flag, the countdown clock and special guest: the crescent Moon. Top right: 6:48 am, looking over the turn basin. Bottom: This is at 6:52 am, as the sun is about to pop over the horizon, behind me. This photo is looking directly opposite the sunrise, from the parking lot (I stepped off the bus to quickly snap this picture). Visible in the sky are rays, converging at a point on the horizon directly opposite the sunrise. Also, this is a three frame panorama so that I could get the magnificent Vehicle Assembly Building in the frame.

After delaying the launch into the 40-minute launch window, United Launch Alliance successfully launched the #TDRS-M satellite atop an #AtlasV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 8:29 am (ET) on August 18, 2017. (Photos by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)

After delaying the launch into the 40-minute launch window, United Launch Alliance successfully launched the #TDRS-M satellite atop an #AtlasV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 8:29 am (ET) on August 18, 2017. (Photos by Michael Seeley / We Report Space)