Noctilucent Clouds in Twilight (July 8, 2021)

A mix of noctilucent clouds with tropospheric clouds in the twilight over a ripening canola field, July 8, 2021. This is a single exposure with the Canon 15-35mm L series lens on the Canon R6 camera at ISO 100.

Circumpolar Star Trails with Noctilucent Clouds

An extensive display of noctilucent clouds blended with a star trail sequence of the circumpolar stars of the northern sky. This is a stack of thirty 30-second exposures taken at the end of a sequence of 450 shots, taken when the sky was darkest with the most stars visible, blended with a shorter exposure taken earlier in the night when the noctilucent clouds were more extensive across the twilight sky. So this is a "time-blend" of frames taken from a set shot for a time-lapse. All with the TTArtisan 11mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8 and on the Canon R6.

The Prismatic Colours of Noctilucent Clouds

A superb showing of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) on June 27, 2021, with the colours very prominent, even to the eye. The colours transition from the red and oranges of the solstice twilight, through to yellows and even greens above (these were obvious to the eye), then to the cyan and electric blue of the clouds themselves. The tops of the clouds fade to a deep red as they are being illuminated there by the setting Sun at their altitude and latitude and so appear red, with that red edge decreasing in altitude as the evening progressed as the Sun set lower below the horizon. A widespread area of very clear sky locally and far to the north may have contributed to the better visibility of the colours as the light from the Sun had a clearer path through the atmosphere. This was June 27-28, 2021, in a particularly widespread display that started the evening with the clouds filling the northern half of the sky,. This was from home and is a panorama stitched from 9 segments, each with the 24-105mm f/4 RF lens at 67mm, and Canon R6 camera.

Selfie with Noctilucent Clouds v2

A selfie with a grand display of noctilucent clouds on June 27, 2021, shot from home. This is a single shot with the 24-105mm f/4 RF lens and Canon Ra camera.

Selfie with Noctilucent Clouds v1

A selfie with a grand display of noctilucent clouds on June 27, 2021, shot from home. This is a single shot with the 24-105mm f/4 RF lens and Canon Ra camera.

Noctilucent Clouds With Red Rimmed Top (June 27, 2021)

An extensive display of noctilucent clouds starting the evening nearly up to the zenith and covering all of the northern half of the sky on June 27, 2021. This frame is from later in the evening and shows the tops of the clouds starting to turn red as they enter into Earth's shadow and are illuminated only by the red light of the setting Sun as seen from that high altitude in the atmosphere. I shot this from home in southern Alberta, as part of a time-lapse sequence. The camera is aimed almost due north here. Polaris is at upper centre. This is a single shot with the TTArtisan 11mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8 and on the Canon R6.

Noctilucent Clouds Over the Northern Sky (June 27, 2021)

An extensive display of noctilucent clouds nearly up to the zenith and covering all of the northern half of the sky on June 27, 2021, shot from home in southern Alberta. The camera is aimed almost due north here. This is a single shot with the TTArtisan 11mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/5.6 and on the Canon R6.

Noctilucent Clouds in Deep Twilight at Crawling Lake

A panorama of noctilucent clouds in the waning stages of a great display, as they retreated to a low but bright band across the northwest and northern horizon, here over the wind-rippled waters of Crawling Valley Reservoir near home in southern Alberta. The wind prevented the ideal reflection. This was June 20, 2021, the evening of summer solstice this year. So this was the shortest night of the year with the Sun the least distance below the horizon it would get for us at my latitude of 51° N. The colours blend the blue, yellow and orange of the solstice twilight with the blue-white of the NLCs, with a slight reddish tinge at the tops of the clouds where the Sun is setting. This is a 5-section panorama with the 85mm Samyang lens and Canon R6, stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Fragment of Bright NLCs (June 20, 2021)

A short panorama taking in the brightest central portion of the noctilucent clouds display of June 20, 2021 in the deepening colours of solstice twilight. This is over the wind-rippled waters of Crawling Valley Reservoir near home in southern Alberta. The wind prevented the ideal reflection. This was June 20, 2021, the evening of summer solstice this year. So this was the shortest night of the year with the Sun the least distance below the horizon it would get for my latitude of 51° N. The colours blend the blue, yellow and orange of the solstice twilight with the blue-white of the NLCs. But some greens always show up in such images. This is an 3-section panorama with the 85mm Samyang lens and Canon R6 oriented in landscape mode (i.e. horizontally), stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Noctilucent Clouds Panorama at Crawling Lake

A 150° panorama showing the full sweep of the noctilucent clouds display of June 20, 2021, in its later stages, as the clouds retreated to a low but bright band across the northwest and northern horizon, here over the wind-rippled waters of Crawling Valley Reservoir near home in southern Alberta. The wind prevented the ideal reflection. This was June 20, 2021, the evening of summer solstice this year. So this was the shortest night of the year with the Sun the least distance below the horizon it would get for us at my latitude of 51° N. The colours blend the blue, yellow and orange of the solstice twilight with the blue-white of the NLCs, with a slight reddish tinge at the tops of the clouds where the Sun is setting. This is an 11-section panorama with the 85mm Samyang lens and Canon R6 oriented in landscape mode (i.e. horizontally), stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. There is a version shot just before this one with the camera min portrait mode, and that takes in more sky.

Arc of Noctilucent Clouds (June 20, 2021)

A 150° panorama showing the full sweep and arc of the noctilucent cloud display of June 20, 2021, in its later stages, as the clouds retreated to a low but bright band across the northwest and northern horizon, here over the wind-rippled waters of Crawling Valley Reservoir near home in southern Alberta. The wind prevented the ideal reflection. This was June 20, 2021, the evening of summer solstice this year. So this was the shortest night of the year with the Sun the least distance below the horizon it would get at my latitude of 51° N. The colours blend the blue, yellow and orange of the solstice twilight with the blue-white of the NLCs, with a slight reddish tinge at the tops of the clouds where the Sun is setting. This is a crop of a 24-section panorama with the 85mm Samyang lens and Canon R6, in portrait orientation (moving the camera 10° between segments), stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Fish-Eye View of Noctilucent Clouds (June 20, 2021)

A single wide fish-eye view showing the full sweep of the noctilucent clouds display of June 20, 2021, in its later stages, as the clouds retreated to a low but bright band across the northwest and northern horizon, here over the wind-rippled waters of Crawling Valley Reservoir near home in southern Alberta. The wind prevented the ideal reflection. This was June 20, 2021, the evening of summer solstice this year. So this was the shortest night of the year with the Sun the least distance below the horizon it would get for us at my latitude of 51° N. The colours blend the blue, yellow and orange of the solstice twilight with the blue-white of the NLCs, with a slight reddish tinge at the tops of the clouds where the Sun is setting. This is a single image with the 11mm TTArtisan full-frame fish-eye lens and Canon R6.

Noctilucent Clouds Panorama at Crawling Lake with 50mm Lens

A 150° panorama showing the full sweep of the noctilucent clouds display of June 20, 2021, early in its appearance, with the clouds still high in the north, though 20 minutes or so before this the clouds reached up to the zenith in the brighter twilight sky. This is over the wind-rippled waters of Crawling Valley Reservoir near home in southern Alberta. The wind prevented the ideal reflection. This was June 20, 2021, the evening of summer solstice this year. So this was the shortest night of the year with the Sun the least distance below the horizon it would get for us at my latitude of 51° N. The colours blend the blue, yellow and orange of the solstice twilight with the blue-white of the NLCs. This is an 11-section panorama with the 50mm Sigma lens and Canon R6 oriented in landscape mode (i.e. horizontally), stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Noctilucent Clouds at Dawn (June 17, 2021)

A 180° panorama of the massive display of noctilucent clouds at dawn on June 17, 2021 from home in southern Alberta. This display was bright and extensive at dusk on June 16, and re-appeared over much of the northeastern sky at dawn. It reached up to the zenith as the sky brightened. This is a panorama of 11 segments with the 24mm lens and Canon R6, stitched with Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop.

Noctilucent Clouds at One Tree Hill (June 16, 2021)

A single image of the brightest section of the massive "grand display" of noctilucent clouds at dusk on June 16, 2021 from "One Tree Hill" (my name for it!) near home in southern Alberta. This display was bright and extensive at dusk on June 16, and re-appeared over much of the northeastern sky at dawn on June 17. Note the colours — with the NLCs having a reddish tinge at the top where sunlight is reddened as the Sun sets from that altitude and location of the clouds. The lower areas of NLCs often appear green as well. But the main colour of NLCs is electric blue, very much so this night when they were so bright. This is a single image with the 85mm Samyang lens and Canon R6.

Noctilucent Clouds at Dusk with 85mm Lens (June 16, 2021)

A 45° panorama of the massive "grand display" of noctilucent clouds at dusk on June 16, 2021 from "One Tree Hill" near home in southern Alberta. This display was bright and extensive at dusk on June 16, and re-appeared over much of the northeastern sky at dawn on June 17. Note the colours — with the NLCs having a reddish tinge at the top where sunlight is reddened as the Sun sets from that altitude and location of the clouds. The lower areas of NLCs often appear green as well. But the main colour of NLCs is electric blue, very much so this night when they were so bright. The sharp dark edge in the clouds at left is real; it is not a stitching artifact. Capella is the brightest star to the right of the lone tree. This is a panorama of 6 segments with the 85mm Samyang lens and Canon R6, stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Arc of Noctilucent Clouds (June 16, 2021)

A 90° panorama of the massive "grand display" of noctilucent clouds at dusk on June 16, 2021 from "One Tree Hill" near home in southern Alberta. This display was bright and extensive at dusk on June 16, and re-appeared over much of the northeastern sky at dawn on June 17. This shows the arc of the NLCs, defined at the top by the edge where sunlight is no longer illuminating the clouds, an edge that drops in altitude as the Sun itself drops farther below the horizon. Capella is at centre, Leo and Regulus at far left, and Perseus at right of centre. The main colour of NLCs is electric blue, very much so this night when they were so bright. This is a panorama of 10 segments with the 50mm Sigma lens and Canon R6, stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Brilliant Noctilucent Clouds at One Tree Hill (June 16, 2021)

A single image of the brightest section of the massive "grand display" of noctilucent clouds at dusk on June 16, 2021 from "One Tree Hill" (my name for it!) near home in southern Alberta. This display was bright and extensive at dusk on June 16, and re-appeared over much of the northeastern sky at dawn on June 17. This is a single image with the 50mm Sigma lens and Canon R6.

Noctilucent Clouds Wide-Angle Panorama (June 16, 2021)

A wide 90° panorama of the massive "grand display" of noctilucent clouds at dusk on June 16, 2021 from "One Tree Hill" (my name for it!) near home in southern Alberta. This display was bright and extensive at dusk on June 16, and re-appeared over much of the northeastern sky at dawn on June 17. The waxing Moon in Leo is at far left, Capella is right of centre, and Cassiopeia is at upper right. This is a panorama of 5 segments with the 24mm Canon lens and Canon R6, stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Noctilucent Clouds Above Thunderstorm (June 14, 2021)

A display of noctilucent clouds in the solstice twilight along the northern horizon and above a distant retreating thunderstorm lit from within by lightning bolts. This was June 14, 2021 from southern Alberta. The stars of Perseus are at upper left. This is with the 85mm Samyang AF lens on the Canon R6 camera.

Noctilucent Clouds at Dawn (June 12, 2021)

A display of noctilucent clouds at dawn at 3:30 am local time from home in southern Alberta, on June 12, 2021, The bright star Capella is at left. This is a two image panorama with the 50mm Sigma lens at f/3.2 and Canon R6 at ISO 100 for 8 seconds each. Stitched with ACR.

Aurora and Distant NLCs (June 11-12, 2021)

A display of Northern Lights low across the northeast, with a very distant and low showing of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) to the north along the northern horizon at left. These would have been far to the north of me. This was about 1 am MDT. This is a single 30-second shot with the 21mm TTArtisan lens at f/2.8 and Canon R6 at ISO 1600. Taken from the field at home.

Panorama of Comet NEOWISE Over Prince of Wales Hotel (July 14, 2020)

A once-in-a-lifetime scene — A panorama of the dawn sky at 4 am on July 14, 2020 from Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada with Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel. Noctilucent clouds glow below the comet in the dawn twilight. Venus is rising right of centre paired with Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster, while the Pleiades cluster shine above. The waning quarter Moon shines above the Vimy Peak at far right. The Big Dipper is partly visible above the mountain at far left. Capella and the stars of Auriga are at centre. This is an 8-segment panorama with the 35mm Canon lens at f/2.5 for 15 seconds each at ISO 100 with the Canon 6D MkII and stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Comet NEOWISE and NLCs over Prince of Wales Hotel (July 14, 2020)

Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) with a small display of noctilucent clouds over Emerald Bay and the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, at dawn on July 14, 2020. This was from the new International Peace Park viewpoint near the marina. Capella is at upper right. This is a blend of a stack of four exposures for the ground and water to smooth noise, blended with a single short exposure for the sky, all 20 seconds at f/2.5 and ISO 400, plus an additional short 8 second exposure at ISO 100 blended in with a luminosity mask to reduce the intensity of just the hotel lights and prevent them from overexposing too much. All with the 35mm Canon lens and Canon 6D MkII camera. LENR employed on all shots to reduce thermal noise this warm summer night.