Interesting Nikon lenses (Fisheye-Nikkor 8mm+50/1.2) used to examine aurora

[Macro_Cosmos]

I was researching an application and stumbled upon this interesting article.
https://www.nipr.ac.jp/english/info/notice/20170810.html
They were investigating the flickering aurora phenomenon.  Aside from the duo of familiar cameras, I was also amused by the two Nikon manual lenses.


The Fisheye-Nikkor 8mm and 50mm F1.2 AIS were installed on a Hamamatsu ORCA-Flash4.0 V2 sCMOS camera.

Two scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) cameras (ORCA-Flash 4.0V2, Hamamatsu Photonics, Hamamatsu, Japan) were installed at Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR, 65.74° MLAT, L = 5.9) in Alaska from January to April in 2016. The two cameras, hereafter referred to as CMOS 1 and CMOS 2, were directed to the magnetic zenith at PFRR. In order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and the sampling rate, the original 2048 × 2048 pixel images were reduced to 512 × 512 pixel images by 4 × 4 binning. CMOS 1 was equipped with a narrow field-of-view (FOV) lens (NIKKOR 50 mm F1.2) to investigate the fine-scale high-speed morphology, and only partial images of 512 × 256 pixels across the magnetic zenith were recorded at 160 fps. The 160 fps sampling rate was designed to cover typical cyclotron frequencies of three ion components (O+, He+, and H+), which typically correspond to 10 Hz, 40 Hz, and 160 Hz, respectively. The FOV of CMOS 1 was approximately 14.8° × 7.4° and corresponded to an area of 26 km × 13 km at a height of 100 km. CMOS 2, equipped with a wide FOV lens (NIKKOR Fisheye 8 mm F2., was used to monitor the mesoscale auroral morphology, and 512 × 512 pixel images were recorded at 40 fps. The FOV of CMOS 2 corresponded to 100° × 100°.

What the flickering aurora looks like:
https://www.nipr.ac.jp/english/info/notice/image/20170809-movie1.mp4

Reference:
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017GL072956

[Erik Lund]

Thank you for sharing! Indeed interesting to see these old Nikkor finding use even in research

[bobfriedman]

my understanding is that this was the intended use for the early fisheye-nikkor... not just Aurora but in general weather data analysis.

[fish_shooter]

Very interesting. I have driven past Poker Flats but not visited. Rockets are launched there to study the aurora. They have an on-line monitoring of current auroras; see:https://allsky.gi.alaska.edu/
It has just started for the '22-23 season so may not have been working correctly last night as the auroras do not seem to be visible (the typical amplification steps that take place during the night are not visible). Last night's auroras can be seen by clicking on tonight (until tonight when it gets written over).
Several domes can be seen around the edges on the still shot in the link. One of these may be the one used for the study referenced here. I got my Ph.D. next door to the G.I. at the Institute of Marine Sciences. We used Elvey auditorium in the G.I. building for our weekly seminars.

[Hugh_3170]

Bob, this is my understanding also.

This link might be of interest:  https://fstoppers.com/gear/using-nikon-8mm-f8-fish-eye-nikkor-intended-science-601116

A related link, re meteorological uses of the 10mm Nikkor: https://imaging.nikon.com/history/story/0006/index.htm

and https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/2005JIMO...33....9B/0000009.000.html   

my understanding is that this was the intended use for the early fisheye-nikkor... not just Aurora but in general weather data analysis.

[Øivind Tøien]

Very interesting. I have driven past Poker Flats but not visited. Rockets are launched there to study the aurora. They have an on-line monitoring of current auroras; see:https://allsky.gi.alaska.edu/
It has just started for the '22-23 season so may not have been working correctly last night as the auroras do not seem to be visible (the typical amplification steps that take place during the night are not visible). Last night's auroras can be seen by clicking on tonight (until tonight when it gets written over).
Several domes can be seen around the edges on the still shot in the link. One of these may be the one used for the study referenced here. I got my Ph.D. next door to the G.I. at the Institute of Marine Sciences. We used Elvey auditorium in the G.I. building for our weekly seminars.

For the record of the thread, I previously reported from a visit to Poker Flat Research Range during an open day event here:
https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=8444.msg138606#msg138606

A few of those Nikkors were shown.

[Macro_Cosmos]

my understanding is that this was the intended use for the early fisheye-nikkor... not just Aurora but in general weather data analysis.

I believe you are correct.  The 6mm was designed for "sky monitoring" as well, if I recall correctly.
There was also a 6mm with an aperture of F1.2 for a small sensor and it was made specifically to image aurora.

You can find information in the Japanese language here: https://blog.goo.ne.jp/good-vibrations409/e/06621aae4bd684a85f63657b16d8f99e
It also showcases nice polarised light microscopy.


Thin section of a meteorite:

[Macro_Cosmos]

Here's another updated view:

What is that AF-S lens? An 85mm F1.4 or 58mm F1.4? I wonder how they're controlling the aperture, or if they even care to. Maybe it's just left wide open.  The smaller sensor will cut out any weird periphery aberrations anyway.
It's probably a 58mm F1.4, which is the closest affordable lens to the legendary noct-nikkor, and the 50mm F1.4 they were previously using.
Edit: Thanks to Wally and Roland, this is likely the 105mm F1.4E lens!  I did not consider that at all.  I have seen an array of Sigma's 105mm F1.4 being used for a similar application, so this makes a lot of sense.

Aurora imaging result:

[Wally]

Given the top right side view of both lenses, the very large barrel / girth of the AF-S lens (in front) rather points to the 105mm/1.4E. The AF-S 58mm is much smaller and definitely shorter. I can't say if a 105mm does make sense for this application.
In any case very interesting!

[Roland Vink]

Given the top right side view of both lenses, the very large barrel / girth of the AF-S lens (in front) rather points to the 105mm/1.4E.

I agree. The lens shown here flares out from the lens mount, then there is a step up to the maximum diameter. Only the AF-S 105/1.4 has this shape.

[Macro_Cosmos]

Given the top right side view of both lenses, the very large barrel / girth of the AF-S lens (in front) rather points to the 105mm/1.4E. The AF-S 58mm is much smaller and definitely shorter. I can't say if a 105mm does make sense for this application.
In any case very interesting!

I agree. The lens shown here flares out from the lens mount, then there is a step up to the maximum diameter. Only the AF-S 105/1.4 has this shape.

Good points!
I also measured my own Orca camera and approximated the length of the Nikkor shown, it appears to be a match.

[Øivind Tøien]

I reported from a visit to the Poker Flat Research Range facility a few years ago, Some the all-sky lenses used are shown in the thread:
https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=8444.msg138606#msg138606
[Oops I did not see how old the thread was, this is a repeat from my post above.    )

Not sure if it is provided above, but here is their home page:
https://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/content/welcome-poker-flat