Aurora at the Zenith #6 (March 23, 2023)

A framing of the converging rays of aurora overhead at the magnetic zenith, a little south of the true zenith at 90° altitude. This was the superb Kp6 to 7 display on March 23, 2023, with the aurora in a pulsating mode rather than forming rippling curtains. Leo is below the convergence point. At this time later in the display the rays showed a lot of red as well as green. A short exposure helped freeze the rapid pulsations and capture the structure. This is a single 2-second exposure with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/2 and Canon R6 at ISO 3200.

Aurora at the Zenith #5 (March 23, 2023)

A framing of the converging rays of aurora overhead at the magnetic zenith, a little south of the true zenith at 90° altitude. This was the superb Kp6 to 7 display on March 23, 2023, with the aurora in a pulsating mode rather than forming rippling curtains. Leo is just below the convergence point. The Big Dipper is at top. At this time later in the display the rays showed a lot of red as well as green. A short exposure helped freeze the rapid pulsations and capture the structure. This is a single 2-second exposure with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/2 and Canon R6 at ISO 2500.

Aurora Rays Over House #2 (March 23, 2023)

Auroral streamers or rays rather than classic curtains as part of the pulsating phase of the great equinox display of Northern Lights on March 23, 2023. The rays have a strong vertical structure from precipitating electrons but were pulsing off and on rather than rippling. While the predominent colour is green, there is a lot of red and magenta mixed in. The rays are converging upward to the magnetic zenith. This is looking northwest over my house. A short exposure froze the motion and pulsations to better record the structure. Cassiopeia is at centre. The Pleiades are at left. This is a single 1-second exposure with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/2 and the Canon R6 at ISO 6400. Taken from home in southern Alberta.

Aurora Rays in the South (March 23, 2023)

Auroral streamers or rays rather than curtains as part of the pulsating phase of the great equinox display of Northern Lights on March 23, 2023. The rays have a strong vertical structure from precipitating electrons but were pulsing off and on rather than rippling. While the predominent colour is green, there is a lot of red and magenta mixed in. The rays appear to be converging up toward the magnetic zenith. This is looking south. Orion is at right. This is a single 2.5-second exposure with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/2 and the Canon R6 at ISO 3200. Taken from home in southern Alberta.

Aurora Rays Over House #1 (March 23, 2023)

Auroral streamers or rays rather than curtains as part of the pulsating phase of the great equinox display of Northern Lights on March 23, 2023. The rays have a strong vertical structure from precipitating electrons but were pulsing off and on rather than rippling. While the predominent colour is green, there is a lot of red and magenta mixed in. The rays are converging upward to the magnetic zenith. This is looking east over my house. This is a single 2.5-second exposure with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/2 and the Canon R6 at ISO 1600. Taken from home in southern Alberta.

Aurora in the Evening Twilight (March 23, 2023)

Auroral curtains in the evening twilight on March 23, 2023 during the great equinox show that night. This is looking west toward the sunset glow and with the Moon and Venus above the clouds lit yellow by light pollution from Calgary to the west from my location. This is a single 10-second exposure with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/4 and Canon R6 at ISO 800.

Aurora with Colorful Curtains (March 23, 2023)

A particularly colourful display of aurora on March 23, 2023 during the great equinox show that night. This is looking northwest toward the Big Dipper and over my house in southern Alberta. This is a single 10-second exposure with the Venus Optics 15mm lens and Canon R6 at ISO 800.

Equinox Aurora in Twilight Panorama #3 Spherical (March 23, 2023)

A 360° fish-eye panorama of the great equinox aurora of March 23, 2023, with the aurora already bright as the sky darkened at twilight. The Kp values peaked at Kp7 this night. A purple arc stretches high across the sky, looking a little like a STEVE arc (but it isn't), with a green band below it to the south. The green arc has some of the features of a "dunes" aurora in that it shows horizontal streaks. This is looking east (at left) to south (at bottom), to west (at right toward the sunset twilight) and north (at top). The zenith is at centre where the rays of the puple arc converge. The crescent Moon and Venus shine above the bright twilight arch. Orion and the winter stars are below centre. Leo and the spring stars are rising over my house at left. The Big Dipper is at top left. Shot from the field across the road from home, in southern Alberta. This is a stitch of 16 segments each 10 seconds with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/4 on the Canon R6 at ISO 800. The camera was turned portrait for vertically oriented segments. Stitched with PTGui with spherical projection.

Equinox Aurora in Twilight Panorama #3 (March 23, 2023)

A 360° panorama of the great equinox aurora of March 23, 2023, with the aurora already bright as the sky darkened at twilight. The Kp values peaked at Kp7 this night. A purple arc stretches high across the sky, looking a little like a STEVE arc (but it isn't STEVE), with a green band below it. The green arc has some of the features of a "dunes" aurora in that it shows horizontal streaks. This is looking east (at left) to south (at centre), to west (right of centre toward the sunset twilight) and north (at either end). The zenith is at top where the rays of the puple arc converge. The crescent Moon and Venus shine above the bright twilight arch. Orion and the winter stars are at centre. Leo and the spring stars are rising over my house at left. The Big Dipper is at far left, distorted by the panorama projection. Shot from the field across the road from home, in southern Alberta. This is a stitch of 16 segments each 10 seconds with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/4 on the Canon R6 at ISO 800. The camera was turned portrait for vertically oriented segments. Stitched with PTGui with equirectangular projection.

Aurora with Dunes Structures (March 23, 2023)

The aurora of March 23, 2023, caught early in the evening when there was a green arc to the south as the sky darkened that exhibited a "dunes" type of structure, with horizontal banding rather than vertical rays or curtains. Above is a purple arct that has some characteristics of a STEVE arc but is likely a standard vertical curtain. At right are Venus and the crescent Moon below, above the glow of twilight. Orion is left of centre, with Sirius embedded in the dunes arc. This is looking southwest to west. The time was about 9 pm MDT. This is a panorama made of a stitch of 6 segments, each 10 seconds at ISO 800 with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/4 and Canon R6, turned to portrait orientation. Stitched with PTGui.

Equinox Aurora in Twilight Panorama #2 Spherical (March 23, 2023)

A 360° fish-eye panorama of the great equinox aurora of March 23, 2023, with the aurora already bright as the sky darkened at twilight. The Kp values peaked at Kp7 this night. A purple arc stretches high across the sky, looking a little like a STEVE arc, with a green band below it to the south. The green arc has some of the features of a "dunes" aurora in that it shows horizontal streaks. This is looking east (at left) to south (at bottom), to west (at right toward the sunset twilight) and north (at top). The zenith is at centre where the rays of the puple arc converge. The crescent Moon and Venus shine above the bright twilight arch. Orion and the winter stars are below centre. Leo and the spring stars are rising over my house at left. The Big Dipper is at top left beside an odd isolated ray of aurora. Shot from the field across the road from home, in southern Alberta. This is a stitch of 16 segments each 10 seconds with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/4 on the Canon R6 at ISO 800. The camera was turned portrait for vertically oriented segments. Stitched with PTGui with spherical projection.

Equinox Aurora in Twilight Panorama #2 (March 23, 2023)

A 360° panorama of the great equinox aurora of March 23, 2023, with the aurora already bright as the sky darkened at twilight. The Kp values peaked at Kp7 this night. A purple arc stretches high across the sky, looking a little like a STEVE arc, with a green band below it. The green arc has some of the features of a "dunes" aurora in that it shows horizontal streaks. This is looking east (at left) to south (at centre) to west (right of centre toward the sunset twilight) and north (at far right). The zenith is at top where the rays of the puple arc converge. The crescent Moon and Venus shine above the bright twilight arch. Orion and the winter stars are at centre. Leo and the spring stars are rising over my house at left. The Big Dipper is at far right beside an odd isolated ray of aurora. Shot from the field across the road from home, in southern Alberta. This is a stitch of 16 segments each 10 seconds with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/4 on the Canon R6 at ISO 800. The camera was turned portrait for vertically oriented segments. Stitched with PTGui with equirectangular projection.

Thin Moon and Jupiter Setting (March 22, 2023)

The thin one-day-old crescent Moon just above Jupiter as both set on the evening of March 22, 2023. The Earthshine glow is obvious on the dark side of the Moon. The age of the Moon was about 31.5 hours this night at this time and longitude. This is a single 1.6-second untracked shot with the Canon RF100-400mm lens at 270mm and f/8 (wide open at this focal length), on the Canon Ra at ISO 3200 to keep the exposure time short and with the Ra's red sensitivity enhancing the twilight colours. Topaz DeNoise AI applied to smooth the high ISO noise. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo.

Clusters and Nebulas in Gemini (March 2023)

A framing of a field in southwestern Gemini rich in star clusters and nebulas. At top right is the rich star cluster Messier 35 and its small more distant companion cluster NGC 2158. At bottom right is the emission nebula NGC 2174 that is over the border in northern Orion. Above centre is the supernova remnant IC 443 arcing to the east of the orange star Propus or Eta Geminorum. The large diffuse nebula at left is IC 444 above the orange star Tejat Posterior or Mu Geminorum. The large, loose cluster Colliner 89 is embedded in IC 444. That region also has some blue reflection nebulosity, as does NGC 2174. This is a combination of exposures taken without a nebula filter blended with exposures taken through an IDAS NB1 dual narrowband filter: 17 x 4 minutes unfiltered at ISO 800 blended with 10 x 6 minutes at ISO 3200 with the filter, all with filter-modified Canon EOS R, on the SharpStar 61mm EDPH at f/4.5, on the Sky-Watcher EQM35 mount autoguided with the ASIAir Mini computer. The Mini performed dithering moves between each exposure to reduce thermal noise hot pixels. The Images were shot over two nights: filtered on March 19 and unfiltered on March 21, as this area of sky was in the southwest and not high enough for more than 1 to 2 hours of shooting. Plus some ice fog and frost intervened. Taken as part of testing this combination of gear as an entry-level setup. Stacking, aligning and processing in Photoshop, using luminosty masks, a starless layer and the nebula filter action in Photokemi actions to bring out the faint nebulosity.

Equinox Sunset in Fog v2

The setting Sun descending into a fog bank on a rural highway looking due west, on the evening of the vernal equinox, March 20, 2023. So the Sun is setting due west. The fog dims and reddens the Sun, illustrating atmospheric absorption. This was on Highway 561 in southern Alberta. This is a single exposure with the RF100-400mm lens at 165mm on the Canon R5. Autofocused on the Sun.

The Sun Setting in Fog

The setting Sun descending into a fog bank looking due west, on the evening of the vernal equinox, March 20, 2023. The fog dims and reddens the Sun, illustrating atmospheric absorption, and refraction as the solar disk is quite flattened. A couple of sunspots are just visible. The colour gradient is natural and comes from the blend of fog below and clearer twilight sky above. This is a single exposure with the RF100-400mm lens at 400mm on the Canon R5. Autofocused on the Sun.

Gemini the Twins (March 2023)

A framing of the northern winter sky constellation of Gemini. the Twins The Messier star cluster M35 is at right,, along with the emission nebulas IC 443 and NGC 2174. The twin stars of Castor (top) and Pollux are at left, but showing their colour difference here. The Milky Way runs down the right side of the frame making this area much brighter and richer than the sky at left. This is a stack of 16 x 2-minute exposures with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 61mm and f/2.8 and on the filter-modified Canon Ra camera at ISO 800, on the Star Adventurer tracker. Star glows added by layering in a separate 2-minute exposure taken through a Kase/Alyn Wallace StarGlow filter. Taken from home March 17, 2023.

Auriga and Perseus (March 2023)

A framing of the northern winter sky constellations of Auriga (left) and Perseus (upper right). The Messier star clusters M36, M37 and M38 in Auriga show up well at lower left, along with the Flaming Star, IC 405, and other IC nebulas in Auriga. The large nebula at bottom right is NGC 1499, the California Nebula. The grouping of blue stars at upper right is the Perseus OB Association, aka Melotte 20. Mars is at lower left in Taurus, where it was on March 17, 2023. This is a stack of 15 x 2-minute exposures with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 43mm and f/2.8 and on the filter-modified Canon Ra camera at ISO 800, on the Star Adventurer tracker. Star glows added by layering in a separate 2-minute exposure taken through a Kase/Alyn Wallace StarGlow filter. Taken from home March 17, 2023 with this area of sky in the southwest and plagued by some gradients, reduced with masks in Adobe Camera Raw and with Gradient XTerminator.

Gemini, Auriga and Taurus with Mars (March 2023)

A framing of the northern winter sky constellations of Gemini (left), Auriga (top) and Taurus (bottom right). The Messier star clusters M35 in Gemini, and the trio of M36, M37 and M38 in Auriga show up well. The large nebula at upper right is NGC 1499, the California Nebula in Perseus. The Flaming Star, IC 405, and other IC nebulas in Auriga are right of centre. The small round nebula at bottom is IC 2174 in northern Orion. The dark lanes of the Taurus Dark Molecular Clouds are right of centre. Mars is just below centre in Taurus, adding an extra star to this already rich area of sky and matching Aldebaran for brightness and tint. This is a stack of 12 x 2-minute exposures with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 35mm and f/3.5 and on the filter-modified (by AstroGear) Canon R camera at ISO 800, on the Star Adventurer tracker. Taken from home March 16, 2023 with this area of sky in the southwest and plagued by some gradients, reduced with masks in Adobe Camera Raw and with Gradient XTerminator. Star glows added in post with Luminar Neo Magic Light extension.

Venus and Jupiter Conjunction Between Trees

Venus (at top) and Jupiter in a close conjunction on the evening of March 2, 2023, the day after their closest approach. They were one degree apart this night but were 1/2° apart the night before. I've framed the scene between some lone trees on a prairie hill near home in southern Alberta. This is a single 1-second exposure with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 32mm and f/4 on the Canon R5 at ISO 200. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo and star spikes added with AstronomyTools actions.

Colourful Aurora Panorama #3 Over Rocket Range (Feb 26, 2023)

A 360° panorama of a colourful aurora on a Kp6 night on February 26, 2023, from the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Churchill, Manitoba, at 58° N. This is looking south at centre over the old Rocket Range, with the waxing Moon prominent at right in the west in Taurus near the Pleiades and above Orion. Moonlight illuminates the foreground. North is to the left here. Leo is at left in the east; Orion is at right of centre buried in the aurora. The Studies Centre appears on either side of the 360° panorama. This is a panorama of 13 segments, each 4-second exposures at f/2 with the Venus Optics 15mm lens and Canon R6 at ISO 1600, and in landscape orientation. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Colourful Aurora Panorama #2 Over Rocket Range (Feb 26, 2023)

A 220° panorama of a colourful aurora on a Kp6 night on February 26, 2023, from the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Churchill, Manitoba, at 58° N. This is mostly looking south over the old Rocket Range, with the waxing Moon prominent at right in Taurus near the Pleiades and above Orion. Moonlight illuminates the foreground. This night auroras were seen as far south as the northern U.S. Leo is at left ; Orion is at right of centre buried in the aurora. This is a panorama of 9 segments, each 4-second exposures at f/2 with the Venus Optics 15mm lens and Canon R6 at ISO 1600, and in landscape orientation. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Aurora Curtains with Fine Structures (Feb 26, 2023)

Colourful auroral curtains exhibiting very fine vertical structures and rays, and a mix of red and magenta tones as well as the usual oxygen greens. This is looking southeast over the Churchill Rocket Range on a Kp6 night February 26, 2023. This is a single 4-second exposure with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/2 and Canon R6 at ISO 1600.

Colourful Aurora Panorama #1 Over Rocket Range (Feb 26, 2023)

A 220° panorama of a colourful aurora on a Kp6 night on February 26, 2023, from the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Churchill, Manitoba, at 58° N. This is mostly looking south over the old Rocket Range, with the waxing Moon prominent at right in Taurus near the Pleiades and above Orion. Moonlight illuminates the foreground. This night auroras were seen as far south as the northern U.S. Leo is at left; Orion is at right of centre. At far right is the old headquarters of the Rocket Range, now an auxiliary building for use by the Northern Studies Centre. This is a panorama of 8 segments, each 6-second exposures at f/2 with the Venus Optics 15mm lens and Canon R6 at ISO 1600, and in landscape orientation. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.