Auroral Arc with Purple Pillars and STEVE

A panorama of the Kp5-level aurora on May 27, 2022, from home, with the aurora displaying prominent magenta rays, created by the red oxygen emission blending with illumination from blue scattered sunlight at high altitudes, common around the summer solstice when the high atmosphere is lit all night long. As a bonus, a dim STEVE arc is forming at far right, to the south of the main auroral oval where STEVE normally appears. STEVE faded, then returned to become more strong and visible across the sky from east to west as the main aurora to the north faded. Orange Antares in Scorpius is rising at far right low in the southeast. The Summer Triangle stars are right of centre. This is a panorama of 9 segments, each 10 seconds with the 21mm TTArtisan lens at f/2 and the Canon R5 at ISO 1600. Stitched with Photoshop's Photomerge. The original is 28,400 pixels wide.

Milky Way over the Hoodoos

The summer Milky Way in Cygnus, with the Summer Triangle stars rising over the Hoodoos formations on Highway 10 near Drumheller, Alberta. A low-level aurora display tints the sky magenta and blue at left, making for an unusually colourful sky. The bright stars are: Vega is at top, Deneb at centre and Altair at bottom right. This is a blend of a tracked 2-minute exposure for the sky at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, with a stack of 3 untracked 8-minute exposures for the ground at f/5.6 and ISO 800, all with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and the red-sensitive Canon Ra. Some of the foreground illumination comes from a single distant sodium vapour light, thus the blue shadows. No light painting was used here. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini.

Twilight Panorama over the Red Deer River

A panorama of the Badlands and evening twilight sky over the curve of the Red Deer River, Alberta, from the Orkney Viewpoint on the west side of the river, overlooking the formations of the Horsethief Canyon area to the east. This was May 21, 2022. The pink Belt of Venus is obvious at right above the dark blue band at the horizon of Earth's shadow rising, making for some wonderful colours in the sky contrasting with the earth tones below. This is a panorama of 9 segments, with the RF28-70mm lens at f/5.6 and Canon R5 at ISO 100, for 1/10-second exposures for each segment. Stitched with Photoshop Photomerge as ACR did not want to stitch these segments at all. The original is 21,400 pixels wide.

Lunar Eclipse (May 15, 2022) — Near Totality

The eclipsed Full Moon rising over Reesor Lake in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Alberta, on May 15, 2022. This was just before totality, with just a thin sliver of the Moon stlll illuminated by direct sunlight. From my location and longitude, the Moon rose in the late stages of the initial partial eclipse, but with the portion of the Moon's disk in the umbra glowing a dim red and just visible in the blue twilight sky. Shortly after this image, as totality began with the Moon entirely in the umbra, the Moon had moved up into the increasing clouds at top that were moving eastward, and obscured the Moon for the rest of totality. But for a while at moonrise the band of sky with the Moon low in the southeast was clear. It was a narrow band of photo opportunity, but at the right time for foreground lighting in the still bright twilight. This was from the west end of Reesor Lake near the Saskatchewan border. The lake is home in spring and summer to lots of white American pelicans seen dotting the lake here. It is named for the Reesor family who now in their fifth generation still ranch just up the road from here north of the Park. This is a single image with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 124mm and f/4 and 0.3 seconds at ISO 200 with the red-sensitive Canon Ra camera. Location planning done with the aid of The Photographer's Ephemeris and TPE3D. However, this was a favourite spot that I had shot from several times before, but never a lunar eclipse! I chased here to avoid the worst of the clouds incoming from the west. Cloud cover matched predictions precisely this night.

Lunar Eclipse (May 15, 2022) — Deep Partial

The eclipsed Full Moon rising over Reesor Lake in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Alberta, on May 15, 2022. This was in the last stages of the partial eclipse, with a portion of the Moon's disk stlll illuminated by direct sunlight, but the rest in the red umbral shadow. From my location and longitude, the Moon rose in the late stages of the initial partial eclipse, but with the portion of the Moon's disk in the umbra glowing a dim red and just visible in the blue twilight sky. Later, as totality began with the Moon entirely in the umbra, the Moon had moved up into the increasing clouds at top that were moving eastward, and obscured the Moon for the rest of totality. But for a while at moonrise the band of sky with the Moon low in the southeast was clear. It was a narrow band of photo opportunity, but at the right time for foreground lighting in the still bright twilight. This was from the west end of Reesor Lake near the Saskatchewan border. The lake is home in spring and summer to lots of white American pelicans seen dotting the lake here. It is named for the Reesor family who now in their fifth generation still ranch just up the road from here north of the Park. This is a single image with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 135mm and f/4 and 0.6 seconds at ISO 100 with the red-sensitive Canon Ra camera. Location planning done with the aid of The Photographer's Ephemeris and TPE3D. However, this was a favourite spot that I had shot from several times before, but never a lunar eclipse! I chased here to avoid the worst of the clouds incoming from the west. Cloud cover matched predictions precisely this night.

Lunar Eclipse Panorama at Reesor Lake

A panorama of the eclipsed Full Moon rising over Reesor Lake in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Alberta, on May 15, 2022. This was the much-publicized "Super Flower Blood Moon" eclipse. From my location and longitude, the Moon rose in the late stages of the initial partial eclipse shown here, but with the portion of the Moon's disk in the umbra glowing a dim red and just visible in the blue twilight sky. Shortly after this, as totality began with the Moon entirely in the umbra, the Moon had moved up into the increasing clouds at top that were moving eastward, and obscured the Moon for the rest of totality. But for a while at moonrise the band of sky with the Moon low in the southeast was clear. It was a narrow band of photo opportunity, but at the right time for foreground lighting in the still bright twilight. This was from the west end of Reesor Lake near the Saskatchewan border. The lake is home in spring and summer to lots of white American pelicans seen dotting the lake here. It is named for the Reesor family who now in their fifth generation still ranch just up the road from here north of the Park. This is a stitch of three segments with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 86mm and f/5 and 0.8 seconds at ISO 100 with the red-sensitive Canon Ra camera. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw with most processing in ACR with sky and ground masks. Location planning done with the aid of The Photographer's Ephemeris and TPE3D. However, this was a favourite spot that I had shot from several times before, but never a lunar eclipse! I chased here to avoid the worst of the clouds incoming from the west. Cloud cover matched predictions precisely this night.

Venus & Jupiter in Close Conjunction at Dawn (200mm)

Venus (brightest) and Jupiter in close conjunction low at dawn on April 30, 2022, as shot from home in Alberta at 51° North latitude. The two planets were under 30 arc minutes apart this morning, about the diameter of the Moon. This is a single 2-second exposure with the RF70-200mm lens at 200mm and f/4 and the red-sensitive Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 200.

Aurora from Home Panorama (April 27, 2022)

A 150° panorama of the auroral arc across the northern sky, shot from home in Alberta on April 27, 2022. The camera picked up the blue colour at the top of the curtains at left in the northwest from high-altitude sunlight illuminating the tops of the curtains. Otherwise, oxygen reds and greens dominate this fairly quiet display. Coincidentally, the arc of the aurora nicely follows the arc of the Milky Way across the north, then at its lowest for the year in the spring sky. The winter stars Castor, Pollux and Capella are setting at left; Perseus and Cassiopeia are left of centre; Cygnus (with Deneb) is rising in the northeast right of centre; Vega in Lyra is at upper right, as the summer stars rise in the northeast. Some of the lights in the distance are from farmers in the area preparing the fields for the spring seeding. This is a stitch of 7 segments, each 30 seconds with the RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 24mm, on the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 3200. The camera was on the Star Adventurer tracker, so these are all tracked, but the exposures are short enough that the ground is not blurred too badly, yet the stars are not trailed. Stitched in Camera Raw.

Spring All-Sky Panorama (April 2022)

A 360° "all-sky" panorama of the northern spring sky, taken when the North Galactic Pole was almost due south high in the sky, so we are looking up out of the plane of our galaxy. The Milky Way is visible but only as an arc low across the north, and on this night (April 27, 2022) an arc of a dim green and magenta aurora nicely coincided with the location of the Milky Way. The North Galactic Pole is located just left of the Coma Berenices star cluster below centre. Due south is at bottom; west toward the city is at right; east is at left. The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are directly overhead at centre. Polaris and Ursa Minor/Little Dipper are above centre. Leo is below centre partly in a faint band of Zodiacal Light. The Handle of the Dipper arcs down to yellowish Arcturus, while buish Spica is at bottom low in the south. Vega is rising in the east at left. Capella, and the pair of Castor and Pollux in the winter sky are setting at right. Leo is flanked by the star clusters M44 the Beehive at right and the Coma Berenices Mel111 cluster at left below centre. This is a stitch of 24 segments: 8 segments 45° apart horizontally in 3 tiers 30° apart vertically, for 40 seconds each, with the RF15-35mm lens at 24mm and f/2.8, and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 2000, on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker, using the Alyn Wallace V-plate to place the camera on a horizontal plane for panning around. I moved the camera manually between frames. Stitched with PTGui. Taken from home in southern Alberta at latitude 51° N. The original is 16,500 by 16,500 pixels.

The Coma Berenices Star Cluster

The large star cluster in Coma Berenices called Mel111, accompanied by several galaxies, notably the edge-on NGC 4565 at lower left and the spiral NGC 4559 at upper left. The field of view is 7.5° by 5°, so similar to binoculars. This is a stack of 12 x 6-minute exposures with the Sharpstar 61mm EDPH II telescope at f/4.6 with its reducer (for a focal length of 280mm), and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 800. Sub-frames dithered with the MGEN3 auto-guider. No darks applied. Diffraction spikes added in post for artistic effect.

Lunar Halo Complex on Good Friday

A complex of halo phenomena on the evening of April 15, 2022, Good Friday of the 2022 Easter weekend, around the almost Full Moon. Ice crystals in the high cloud created the halos and arcs, set in the spring night sky, with the Big Dipper at top, Arcturus to the left, and Regulus and Leo at right. The colours of the arcs and sundogs were just visible to the unaided eye. Visible are: — The 22° halo — A large partial halo that looks like a 46° halo but is actually a supralateral arc. — A pair of paraselene (called parhelia when they are around the Sun) or colourful "moondogs" sit on either side of the Moon just outside the 22° halo. — The top of the 22° halo has a colourful upper tangent arc plus a faint Parry arc. — Tangent to the supralateral arc is a rainbow-hued circumzenithal arc. — A paraselenic (?) circle (called a parhelic circle when it is created by the Sun) runs parallel to the horizon through the moondogs and Moon. — A faint and wide vertical light pillar also runs through the Moon up to the top arcs. This is a blend of 7 exposures from 30 seconds to 1/20 seconds to help retain the disk of the Moon amid the bright and hazy sky. All with the 11mm TTArtisan full-frame fish-eye lens at f/4 and Canon R6 at ISO 100. Exposures blended with luminosity masks created with ADP Pro v3.

Lunar Halo Complex Panorama

A complex of halo phenomena on the evening of April 15, 2022, Good Friday of the 2022 Easter weekend, around the almost Full Moon. Ice crystals in the high cloud created the halos and arcs, set in the spring night sky, with the Big Dipper at top, Arcturus to the left, and Regulus and Leo at right of centre. The colours of the arcs and sundogs were just visible to the unaided eye. Visible are: — The main and common 22° halo. — A large partial halo that looks like a 46° halo but is actually a supralateral arc. — A pair of paraselene (called parhelia when they are around the Sun) or colourful "moondogs" sit on either side of the Moon just outside the 22° halo. — The top of the 22° halo has a colourful upper tangent arc plus a faint Parry arc. — Tangent to the supralateral arc is a rainbow-hued circumzenithal arc. — A paraselenic (?) circle (called a parhelic circle when it is created by the Sun) runs parallel to the horizon through the moondogs and Moon. — Far to the west is a rare 120° paraselene, another moondog. Had their been more haze to the east there would have been another 120° paraselene to the left for a more symmetrical display. This is a stitch of 7 exposures all 30 seconds with the 11mm TTArtisan full-frame fish-eye lens at f/4 and Canon R6 at ISO 100. Segments stitched with PTGui with full-frame fisheye projection.

M35 Star Cluster and Nearby Nebulas

The Messier star cluster M35 at top right, along with nearby faint nebulas: IC 443, the arc of nebulosity left of centre, and NGC 2174 at bottom right, all set in a very colourful starfield. IC 443 in Gemini is also known as the Jellyfish Nebula, while NGC 2174 in Orion is aka the Monkeyhead Nebula. IC 443 is a supernova remnant, while NGC 2174 is a star forming region. The images for this stack were taken on a less-than-ideal night with high haze adding the natural glows to the stars, accentuating their colours. The two stars at left, Tejat Posterior (aka Mu Geminorum, left) and Propus (aka Eta Geminorum, centre), are both bright red giant stars. Other stars in the field are hot blue stars. This is a stack and blend of: 10 x 4-minute exposures through an Astronomik CLS clip-in filter blended with 8 x 8-minute exposures taken though a 12nm H-Alpha clip-in filter to add in the red nebulosity. All were through the SharpStar 61mm EDPHII apo refractor at f/4.5 and with the Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 1600 for the CLS filtered images and at ISO 3200 for the H-Alpha filtered shots. Taken from home for a demo image, on a hazy night, March 29, 2022, with the MGEN III autoguider performing inter-frame dithering. It serves as a demo of blending in H-Alpha and also making use of a hazy night! Processing details: The H-Alpha shots were converted to monochrome and processed in Adobe Camera Raw, and blended into the colour image stack with a Lighten blend mode and with colorization added using the Debra Ceravolo method of applying a Hue&Saturation layer set to Colorize at 340 Red and a Lightness of ~50. Masking was applied so the H-alpha image shows through only where the nebulosity is, to prevent the overall sky colour turning red. No darks or flats were applied. All aligned, stacked and blended in Photoshop. Framing planned with SkySafari to include the stars at left and right of the frame.

Rising Moon at Equinox (March 18, 2022)

The nearly Full Moon rising on March 18 near the date of the March equinox (March 20 this year) , so it rose nearly due east this night. This March Moon is also popularly called the Worm Moon. The Moon was a day past Full this night, and clouds hid the Moon at moonrise. By the time it appeared from behind the cloud bank it was a little south of due east and the east-west prairie road. This is a 7-exposure blend to retain detail in the lunar disk while bringing out the ground. Exposures ranged from 1/10 second to 25 seconds, all with the RF70-200mm lens at f/8 and Canon Ra at ISO 400. Blended with ADP Pro luminosity masking panel. Taken from near home in southern Alberta.

All-Sky Aurora (March 4, 2022)

A 360° fish-eye view of a sky-filling aurora on March 4, 2022 taken from the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Churchill, Manitoba. This is looking north but with the lens taking in most of the sky including the zenith at top where the curtains are converging and swirling, and near the Big Dipper. Note the subtle nitrogen pink fringe along the lower curtain. This is a 14-second exposure with the TTArtisan 7.5mm lens at f/2 and Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 800. It is one frame from a 635-frame time-lapse sequence taken over 3 hours this night.

Auroral Oval Panorama from CNSC (Mar 1, 2022)

A 180° panorama of the classic arc of the auroral oval across the northern sky, shot at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Churchill, Manitoba, March 1, 2022. From this longitude the auroral oval is usually centred due north, as it is here. Guests from the Learning Vacations aurora group are outside taking in the display, which was fairly weak this night, with this arc being almost the best it appeared. It shows the classic colours, with the main oxygen green topped by weaker oxygen reds. The arc turns more yellow toward the horizon due to atmospheric absorption. Polaris is just left of centre at top, and marks due north. Capella is at top left; Vega is a right of centre above the trees; Arcturus is at far right. The Milky Way runs across the sky at left in the west. Wind chills were about -40° this night. This is a 3-section panorama with the TTArtisan 11mm fish-eye lens at f/2.8 for 30 seconds each with the Canon R6 at ISO 1600. Stitched with PTGui.

Red Aurora Panorama (Feb 26, 2022)

A 300° panorama of an aurora from the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, in Churchill, Manitoba on February 26, 2022. This aurora was at Kp1 level (very low) and appeared only as featureless grey arcs to the eye. But the camera picked up unusual red colouration, and even some yellow-oranges, along with the more normal greens. The reds are odd for such a low-level aurora as the oxygen reds typically appear only when the aurora gets very active and energetic. The display did brighten more later this night when it took on the more classic green arcs, with occasional lower fringes of nitrogen pinks. But at the start of the night the reds dominated. Orion is at far left (southwest) while Leo is at far right (east). The winter Milky Way arches over the Studies Centre. This is a panorama of 6 segments with the TTArtisan 11mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8 for 30 seconds each with the Canon Ra at ISO 3200. Stitched with PTGui.

Orion in Hydrogen Alpha Light

A portrait of the constellation of Orion taken in monochrome in the deep red light of the hydrogen-alpha wavelength using a narrowband filter, to emphasize the vast clouds of interstellar gas within and around Orion. The Orion Nebula is the bright object at lower centre; the Horsehead Nebula below the Belt of Orion is near centre; the bright object at upper left is the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros. The large circular glow at top around the head of Orion is Sharpless 2-264, the Lambda Orionis nebula. The curving arc on our left side of Orion is Sharpless 2-276, aka Barnard's Loop. This is a stack of 24 x 4-minute exposures with the red-sensitive Canon Ra camera at ISO 1600 shooting through the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 50mm and wide open at f/2. The filter was the Astronomik 12nm Ha clip-in filter. This was taken Feb 10, 2022 in bright moonlight with the waxing gibbous Moon just off frame at top, creating some challenging gradients.

Star Clusters and Nebulas in Auriga

This is a framing of the rich array of star clusters and nebulas in central Auriga. The large star cluster Messier 38 is at top left, with the small cluster NGC 1907 just below it. The smaller star cluster Messier 36 is at left. M38 is often called the Starfish Cluster, while M36 is the Pinwheel Cluster. The complex of star cluster Stock 8 and IC 417 is left of centre, with the small emission nebula NGC 1931 between it and M36. The large nebula at lower centre is IC 410 with the star cluster NGC 1893 embedded in it. The large nebula at right is IC 405, aka the Flaming Star Nebula, with a mix of red emission and blue reflection nebulosity. The faint streak of nebulosity right of M38 at top is Sharpless 2-230. The tiny intense patch of red nebulosity at upper left is Sharpless 2-235. The colourful asterism of stars between IC 410 and IC 405 is variously known as the Little Fish or the Flying Minnow., made of the stars 16, 17, 18 and 19 Aurigae. The field of view is just under 9° by 6°. This is a stack of just 7 x 4-minute exposures with an Askar FMA230 astrograph (230mm focal length at f/4.5), and filter-modified Canon Ra camera at ISO 800. However, no filters were employed here. Nebulosity was brought out using successive curves with luminosity masks generated by Lumenzia. All alignment and layering in Photoshop. Taken from home on January 27, 2022. Autoguided with the MGEN3 guider and dithered. No LENR or dark frame subtraction was employed on this mild winter night. Some light haze in some frames added the star glows. This was a stack of the best 7 frames out of 30 taken this night!

Complex of Nebulas in Central Auriga (Canon Ra)

This is a framing of the rich array of nebulas in central Auriga. The complex of star cluster Stock 8 and IC 417 is at upper left. The large nebula at lower centre is IC 410 with the star cluster NGC 1893 embedded in it. The large nebula at right is IC 405, aka the Flaming Star Nebula, with a mix of red emission and blue reflection nebulosity. The colourful asterism of stars between IC 410 and IC 405 is variously known as the Little Fish or the Flying Minnow., made of the stars 16, 17, 18 and 19 Aurigae. The field of view is just under 4° by 2.7°. This is a stack of 10 x 6-minute exposures with an Askar FRA500 astrograph (500mm focal length at f/5.5), and filter-modified Canon Ra camera at ISO 800. However, no filters were employed here. Nebulosity was brought out using successive curves with luminosity masks generated by Lumenzia, plus an application of the Nebula Filter action in PhotoKemi Startools Photoshop action set. All alignment and layering in Photoshop. Taken from home on January 27, 2022. Autoguided with the MGEN3 guider and dithered. No LENR or dark frame subtraction was employed on this mild winter night. Some light haze in some frames added the star glows.

Complex of Nebulas in Central Auriga (Canon R6)

This is a framing of the rich array of nebulas in central Auriga. The complex of star cluster Stock 8 and IC 417 is at upper left. The large nebula at lower centre is IC 410 with the star cluster NGC 1893 embedded in it. The large nebula at right is IC 405, aka the Flaming Star Nebula, with a mix of red emission and blue reflection nebulosity. The colourful asterism of stars between IC 410 and IC 405 is variously known as the Little Fish or the Flying Minnow., made of the stars 16, 17, 18 and 19 Aurigae. The field of view is just under 4° by 2.7°. This is a stack of 10 x 6-minute exposures with an Askar FRA500 astrograph (500mm focal length at f/5.5), and stock Canon R6 camera at ISO 800. No filters were employed here, and the R6 performed very well for picking up the faint red nebulosity. Even so, nebulosity was brought out using successive curves with luminosity masks generated by Lumenzia, plus an application of the Nebula Filter action in PhotoKemi Startools Photoshop action set. All alignment and layering in Photoshop. Taken from home on January 26, 2022. Autoguided with the MGEN3 guider and dithered. LENR dark frame subtraction was employed to eliminate the edge amp glow the camera is prone to. Some light haze in some frames added the star glows.

The Orion Nebula and Environs

This is a portrait of the main nebulosity in Orion in his Sword, including: the Orion Nebula itself (at centre), aka Messiers 42 and 43, and the Running Man Nebula above (aka NGC 1973-5-7). The bright blue star cluster NGC 1981 shines above the Running Man. The subtle reflection nebula NGC 1999 is below M42 but a bit lost amid the other faint and dusty nebulosity. The field of view is 4° by 2.7°. This is a stack of 11 x 6-minute exposures with an Askar FRA500 astrograph (500mm focal length at f/5.5), and stock Canon R6 camera at ISO 800. The camera was not modified and no filters were employed here. I did not take short exposures for the core of the bright Orion Nebula. Some light haze added star glows. Nebulosity is brought out in Photoshop using successive curves with luminosity masks generated by Lumenzia, and with applications of the Nebula Filter action from the PhotoKemi StarTools action set, and Enhance DSO from the Astronomy Tools action set. All alignment and layering was in Photoshop. Taken from home January 26, 2022. Autoguided and dithered with the MGEN3 guider, with LENR dark frame subtraction also applied to each frame in camera to eliminate the edge amp glow the R6 exhibits. It was about -5° C this night.

The Orion Nebulas of the Belt and Sword

This is a portrait of the main nebulosity in Orion around the Belt and Sword, including: the Orion Nebula itself (at bottom), aka Messiers 42 and 43; the Running Man Nebula above (aka NGC 1973-5-7); the dark Horsehead Nebula (B33) silhouetted in front of the bright nebula IC 434; the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) above Alnitak; and at top left the reflection nebulas Messier 78 and NGC 2071. However, the entire field is filled with streamers and patches of emission and reflection nebulas. The three stars of the Belt of Orion are at centre, from L to R: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. The large loose open star cluster Collinder 70 surrounds the centre star of the belt, Alnilam. The bright blue star cluster NGC 1981 shines above the Running Man. The field of view is almost 9° by 6°. This is a stack of just 11 x 4-minute exposures with an Askar FMA230 astrograph (230mm focal length at f/4.5), and stock Canon R6 camera at ISO 800. The camera was not modified and no filters were employed here. The field could have used more exposures but clouds and altitude prevented that! Some light haze on some frames added star glows. I did not take short exposures for the core of the bright Orion Nebula. Nebulosity is brought out in Photoshop using successive curves with luminosity masks generated by Lumenzia, and with applications of the Nebula Filter action from the PhotoKemi StarTools action set, and Enhance DSO from the Astronomy Tools action set. All alignment and layering was in Photoshop. Taken from home January 25, 2022. Autoguided and dithered with the MGEN3 guider, with LENR dark frame subtraction also applied to each frame in camera to eliminate the edge amp glow the R6 exhibits. It was about -5° C this night.

The Hyades Star Cluster in Taurus

The Hyades star cluster in Taurus with orange giant Aldebaran. The star cluster NGC 1647 is at upper left. The colourful double star Theta 1 and 2 Tauri is at lower centre. This is a stack of 8 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 800 with the Canon R6, and the little Askar 230 astrograph at f/5.5. Autoguided and dithered with the MGEN3 guider. The last 4 exposures were taken January 20, 2022 with the waning Moon rising adding some blue tint to the sky, which is partly retained here. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.