The waning crescent Moon rising in close conjunction with Aldebaran just to the right, and near the Hyades star cluster, all embedded in the twilight over a ripening canola field. The Moon occulted Aldebaran from points farther east but by moonrise at my location the two had separated but were still very close. Earthshine lights this dark side of the Moon, despite its low altitude, on this very clear morning. Shot the morning of July 10, 2018 from home in southern Alberta. This is a 4-second exposure with the 85mm Rokinon lens at f/2.8 and on the Sony a7III at ISO 400. The ground is a stack of three exposures to smooth noise.
A 160° panorama taken July 5/6 of the summer Milky Way and the array of summer 2018 planets over the prairie pond near home in southern Alberta. Mars is bright to the left, Saturn is dimmer and at centre in the Milky Way, while bright Jupiter is at right. Mars and Jupiter nicely flank the Milky Way, and cast glitter paths on the water. The arcing line joining the planets defines the arc of the ecliptic, always low in the south in northern hemisphere summer. Mars was approaching Earth and brightening at this time heading for a late July opposition. The sky is deep blue with solstice twilight. Several satellite trails punctuate the sky. This is a panorama with 2 tiers of 6 segments each, stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. Each segment was 20 seconds at f/2 with the 20mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750 at ISO 6400. Glow effect and vignetting added with Zone System Express extension effects.
A panorama of a fine display of noctilucent clouds across the northern horizon over an angle of about 60°. This was on June 26, 2018 at about 11:45 pm. Capella is just left of centre. The display faded as the solar illumination dropped and the clouds darkened from the top down. This was from the small pond near home in southern Alberta. This is a stitch of 7 segments, each 2 seconds at f/2.8 with the 85mm Rokinon lens and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 400. Stitched with ACR.
