Dawn Twilight Panorama with Planets (June 26, 2022)

A panorama of the morning twilight on June 26, 2022, with the waning crescent Moon in conjunction with Venus low in the north-east and with Mars and Jupiter above. This shows the transition of colours across the spectrum in the dawn twilight. There is a faint wisp of noctilucent cloud at top above the star Capella. This illustrates the line of the ecliptic. And the "big sky" of a prairie dawn. This is a panorama cropped from 8 segments, each 0.8-seconds with the RF28-70mm lens at f/2.8, and Canon R5 at ISO 100. Stitched with Photoshop as Camera Raw oddly refused to stitch all the segments.

Conjunction of the Moon and Venus at Dawn with NLCs (June 26, 2022)

A wide-angle view of the conjunction of the waning crescent Moon with Venus low in the northeast dawn sky on June 26, 2022, taken from home in southern Alberta, latitude 51° N. Earthshine is visible on the dark side of the Moon. And above are some wispy noctilucent clouds, with the star Capella at left. The sky exhibits the wonderful transition of colours from the orange at the horizon through the spectrum to the blues at top. This is a single 0.8-second exposure with the RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 100.

Conjunction of the Moon and Venus at Dawn (June 26, 2022)

The conjunction of the waning crescent Moon with Venus low in the northeast dawn sky on June 26, 2022, taken from home in southern Alberta, latitude 51° N. Earthshine is visible on the dark side of the Moon. The sky exhibits the wonderful transition of colours from the orange at the horizon through the spectrum to the blues at top. This is a single 0.8-second exposure with the RF28-70mm lens at 70mm and f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 100.

The Planet Array at Dawn with Labels (June 26, 2022)

A 180° panorama of the array of the planets in the dawn twiliight on June 26, 2022, with the thin waning crescent Moon just above Venus low in the northeast at centre. At left is a display of wispy noctilucent clouds. The planets from left to right in their correct order out from the Sun are: Venus (low), Mars & Jupiter, and Saturn (at far right). The Pleiades is faintly visible in the twilight above the Venus-Moon pairing. The previous two mornings, when the Moon was between Venus and Mars in the correct order out from he Sun, was alas cloudy. This is a panorama of 11 segments, each 4 seconds at f/2.8 with the RF28-70mm lens at 37mm, and Canon R5 at ISO 100. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Conjunction of the Moon and Venus Rising at Dawn (June 26, 2022)

The conjunction of the waning crescent Moon with Venus as they were rising low in the northeast dawn sky on June 26, 2022, taken from home in southern Alberta, latitude 51° N. Earthshine is visible on the dark side of the Moon. The sky exhibits the wonderful transition of colours from the orange at the horizon through the spectrum to the blues at top. This is a single 1-second exposure with the RF70-200mm lens at 200mm and f/4 on the Canon R5 at ISO 400.

Conjunction of Moon, Venus and Pleiades (June 26, 2022)

A conjunction of the thin waning crescent Moon rising together with Venus low in the dawn sky, and below the Pleiades star cluster at top. Earthshine is just visible on the dark side of the Moon. This is a single 1.3-second exposure with the RF70-200mm lens at 108mm and f/4, and Canon R5 at ISO 400. Taken from home in southern Alberta at latitude 51° N.

The Array of Planets at Dawn on Summer Solstice (with Labels)

The array of four naked-eye planets at dawn on summer solstice morning, June 21, 2022, with Venus at centre low in the twilight; Mars and Jupiter at right of centre; and Saturn at far right, plus the waning last quarter Moon below Jupiter. Unusually, the planets appear from east to west across the sky in the same order as they are in distance out from the Sun. As a bonus, a fading display of noctilucent clouds appears at left in the northern sky. This was from home at latitude 51° North, where the bright sky and low altitude of the planets made it tough to capture them more distinctly. However, they were all easily visible to the naked eye. While Mercury was just rising at this time to the left and below of Venus, it does not appear here as it was too low and lost in the bright twilight. It was not visible in binoculars. This is a panorama of 10 segments, each 0.6-seconds, with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 35mm and f/2.8, with the Canon R5 at ISO 100. Stitched with Camera Raw. The original image is 29,400 pixels wide.

The Array of Planets at Dawn on Summer Solstice

The array of four naked-eye planets at dawn on summer solstice morning, June 21, 2022, with Venus at centre low in the twilight; Mars and Jupiter at right of centre; and Saturn at far right, plus the waning last quarter Moon below Jupiter. Unusually, the planets appear from east to west across the sky in the same order as they are in distance out from the Sun. As a bonus, a fading display of noctilucent clouds appears at left in the northern sky. This was from home at latitude 51° North, where the bright sky and low altitude of the planets made it tough to capture them more distinctly. However, they were all easily visible to the naked eye. While Mercury was just rising at this time to the left and below of Venus, it does not appear here as it was too low and lost in the bright twilight. It was not visible in binoculars. This is a panorama of 10 segments, each 0.6-seconds, with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 35mm and f/2.8, with the Canon R5 at ISO 100. Stitched with Camera Raw. The original image is 29,400 pixels wide.

Noctilucent Clouds and Planet Array at Summer Solstice Dawn (with Labels)

A stunning dawn sky on the day of summer solstice. This is the array of four naked-eye planets at dawn on solstice morning, June 21, 2022, with Venus just right of centre low in the twilight; Mars and Jupiter at right; and Saturn at far right, plus the waning last quarter Moon below Jupiter. Unusually, the planets appear from east to west across the sky in the same order as they are in distance out from the Sun. As a bonus, an extensive display of noctilucent clouds appears at left in the northern sky over my house. The dawn twilight colours the sky at centre in the northeast. This was from home at latitude 51° North, where the bright sky and low altitude of the planets made it tough to capture them more distinctly. However, they were all easily visible to the naked eye. While Mercury was just rising at this time to the left and below of Venus, it does not appear here as it was too low and lost in the bright twilight. It was not visible in binoculars. This is a panorama of 13 segments, each 1-second exposures, with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 28mm and f/2.8, with the Canon R5 at ISO 100. Stitched with Camera Raw. The original image is 35,200 pixels wide.

Noctilucent Clouds and Planet Array at Summer Solstice Dawn

A stunning dawn sky on the day of summer solstice. This is the array of four naked-eye planets at dawn on solstice morning, June 21, 2022, with Venus just right of centre low in the twilight; Mars and Jupiter at right; and Saturn at far right, plus the waning last quarter Moon below Jupiter. Unusually, the planets appear from east to west across the sky in the same order as they are in distance out from the Sun. As a bonus, an extensive display of noctilucent clouds appears at left in the northern sky over my house. The dawn twilight colours the sky at centre in the northeast. This was from home at latitude 51° North, where the bright sky and low altitude of the planets made it tough to capture them more distinctly. However, they were all easily visible to the naked eye. While Mercury was just rising at this time to the left and below of Venus, it does not appear here as it was too low and lost in the bright twilight. It was not visible in binoculars. This is a panorama of 13 segments, each 1-second exposures, with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 28mm and f/2.8, with the Canon R5 at ISO 100. Stitched with Camera Raw. The original image is 35,200 pixels wide.

Noctilucent Clouds Panorama (June 20, 2022)

A panorama of NLCs – noctilucent clouds – aka PMCs or polar mesospheric clouds, taken on June 20, 2022 about 11:40 pm MDT, from home in southern Alberta. After many cloudy nights and some clear nights with no NLCs, this was my first sighting since June 1. The bright luminous mesospheric clouds lit by sunlight at high altitude contrast with the dark tropospheric clouds to the left at low altitude. The bright star Capella in Auriga, low in the north and circumpolar from my latitude of 51° N, is left of centre. The stars of Perseus are at upper right. This is a panorama cropped from 9 segments of 5-second exposures, with the RF24-105mm lens at f/4 and 80mm, and with the Canon R5 at ISO 400. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

The Array of Planets at Dawn with Labels (June 16, 2022)

The array of four naked-eye planets at dawn on June 16, 2022, from Venus at left low in the twilight; to Mars and Jupiter at left of centre; and Saturn at right of centre, plus the waning gibbous Moon at right. Unusually, the planets appear from east to west across the sky in the same order as they are in distance out from the Sun. This was from home at latitude 51° North, where the bright sky and low altitude of the planets made it tough to capture them more distinctly. However, they were all easily visible to the naked eye. While Mercury was just rising at this time to the left of Venus, it does not appear here as it was too low and lost in the horizon clouds. The old house is the original homestead house built by the CPR (the Canadian Pacific rail and steamship company) for the immigrant farmers the company was bringing over from Europe to settle the tracts of land the CPR was granted as part of the deal for building the first trans-Canada national railway. It has seen better days! This is a panorama of 12 segments, each 1-second, with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 34mm and f/2.8, with the Canon R5 at ISO 200. Stitched with Camera Raw. The original image is 30,200 pixels wide.

The Array of Planets at Dawn (June 16, 2022)

The array of four naked-eye planets at dawn on June 16, 2022, from Venus at left low in the twilight; to Mars and Jupiter at left of centre; and Saturn at right of centre, plus the waning gibbous Moon at right. Unusually, the planets appear from east to west across the sky in the same order as they are in distance out from the Sun. This was from home at latitude 51° North, where the bright sky and low altitude of the planets made it tough to capture them more distinctly. However, they were all easily visible to the naked eye. While Mercury was just rising at this time to the left of Venus, it does not appear here as it was too low and lost in the horizon clouds. The old house is the original homestead house built by the CPR (the Canadian Pacific rail and steamship company) for the immigrant farmers the company was bringing over from Europe to settle the tracts of land the CPR was granted as part of the deal for building the first trans-Canada national railway. It has seen better days! This is a panorama of 12 segments, each 1-second, with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 34mm and f/2.8, with the Canon R5 at ISO 200. Stitched with Camera Raw. The original image is 30,200 pixels wide.

Noctilucent Clouds Panorama (June 1, 2022)

A panorama of an early-season appearance of noctilucent clouds on the night of June 1-2, 2022. This is from home in southern Alberta, Canada at latitude 51° N, and taken at midnight, MDT. This was my earliest sighting of NLCs, three weeks before solstice. This is a panorama of 8 segments, each 25 seconds with the 24-105mm RF lens at 105mm, on the red-sensitive Canon Ra at ISO 1600. Stitched in ACR.

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.

Starlink Satellite Train (May 16, 2022)

A passage of a Starlink satellite train (in this case of Starlink set G4-15) on May 16, 2022. The exposure was 3 seconds, and so the satellites' motion has blurred the individual satellites in the string into a longer streak. But this is some 50 satellites traveling in a line, as they appeared about 3 days after launch. The night before they were bunched closer together and were much brighter. Here they were about magnitude 3. They were magnitude 1 the night before. They appear here below Leo, heading toward Spica at far left. A few other short streaks from other satellites are also visible. The Moon was just rising and lighting the sky at this time. This is a single exposure with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 15mm and EOS Ra at ISO 6400. It is part of a short time-lapse set.

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.

Lunar Eclipse (May 15, 2022) — Rising 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 141mm and f/5 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.

Waxing Moon and Mercury with Labels (May 2, 2022)

The two-day-old waxing crescent Moon with Earthshine, above Mercury at right, then 4 days past its greatest elongation from the Sun, in the evening sky of May 2, 2022. The star Aldebaran is at left, and below Mercury to the right is the Pleiades, just visible in the twilight and thin clouds. This is a single 1.6-second exposure with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 70mm and f/2.8 and Canon Ra at ISO 100. Taken from home in Alberta at 51° North latitude. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo.

Waxing Moon and Mercury (May 2, 2022)

The two-day-old waxing crescent Moon with Earthshine, above Mercury at right, then 4 days past its greatest elongation from the Sun, in the evening sky of May 2, 2022. The star Aldebaran is at left, and below Mercury to the right is the Pleiades, just visible in the twilight and thin clouds. This is a single 1.6-second exposure with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 70mm and f/2.8 and Canon Ra at ISO 100. Taken from home in Alberta at 51° North latitude. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo.

Venus & Jupiter in Close Conjunction at Dawn (70mm)

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 70mm and f/4 and the red-sensitive Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 100.

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.