A bright arc of aurora over the still waters of Tibbitt Lake, at the end of the Ingraham Trail all-weather road east of Yellowknife, NWT. This was the night of September 8/9, 2018 during a very fine display. Vega and Altair and the Milky Way are at left. The Big Dipper and Polaris are at right. This is a single exposure for the sky, and a mean-stacked blend of 5 exposures for the ground and water to smooth noise. All are 6 seconds at f/2.8 with the Rokinon 12mm full-frame fish-eye lens on the Nikon D750 at ISO 6400.
A 180° panorama of a developing aurora display near Yellowknife, NWT, at Tibbit Lake. This was September 8, 2018. The Kp Index was officially only 2! Yet the display developed into one of the best I have seen. This was early, as the arcs began to come overhead. The Big Dipper is left of centre to the northwest. Arcturus is reflected in the water. Capella is at centre amid the lower curtain, rising in the northeast. Vega is at upper left. The horizon glow at far left is Yellowknife about 70km away. This is a stitch of 8 segments, each 25 seconds with the 14mm Sigma Art lens at f/2.2, mounted portrait, and on the Nikon D750 at ISO 3200. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
The large star-forming region of IC 1396 in Cepheus, taken September 5, 2018 from home in southern Alberta. The wide field includes the bright orange star Mu Cephei, or Herschel’s Garnet Star, at top. The Elephant Trunk Nebula is at centre. North is at top. This is a stack of 7 exposures: 5 x 6 minutes at ISO 1600 with an LPS light pollution reduction filter and 2 x 5 minutes at ISO 1600 without the LPS filter, all with the 77mm f/4 Borg Astrograph and filter-modified Canon 5D MkII. I refocused between unfiltered and filtered shots, and registered the images in Photoshop. The filtered shots record the red nebulosity with more intensity. The unfiltered shots provide a more natural color to the stars and background sky. So this is a composite that blends the best of both worlds. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions.
