Orion and the winter stars setting into the west on a mid-April evening, on April 14, 2018. Clouds coming from the west hide or dim some of the stars, notably Aldebaran at centre. But Orion left of centre is mostly in the clear. Sirius is at far left, above it Procyon. Castor and Pollux are at top, with Capella right of top centre. The bright object low in the twilight is Venus. This is a stack of 5 images for the ground to smooth noise and one image for the sky, all 15 seconds untracked at f/2.8 with the Rokinon 14mm SP and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800.
Mars (below) and Saturn in conjunction 1.3° apart in Sagittarus in the dawn sky on April 3, 2018. They were a little closer the previous morning but it was cloudy! The fuzzy spot to the right of Mars is the globular cluster M22. The waning gibbous Moon off frame to the right provides the illumination, plus the brightening blue of morning twilight lights the sky. This is a composite of one 2.5-second exposure for the sky, to prevent trailing, and a stack of 8 x 2.5-second exposures for the ground, mean combined to smooth noise. All with the Rokinon 85mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 400. Star diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions for artistic effect.
The winter sky with Orion setting into the west in the evening twilight on April 2, 2018. The wide view takes in all the winter constellations of the northern sky, from Canis Major at lower left to Auriga and Perseus at upper right. Orion is at centre with his Belt pointing down to Sirius and up to Aldebaran in Taurus with the Pleiades. Procyon and Pollux and Castor are at upper left. There was a lot of snow on the ground this year in early April. This looks more like a winter scene than spring. This is a composite of a single 25-second untracked exposure for the sky, and a stack of 8 x 25-second exposures for the ground, averaged in-camera using the Canon 6D MkII Multiple Exposure Average function. This smooths noise. All at f/2.8 with the Rokinon SP lens and Canon 8D MkII at ISO 1600.
