Aurora from Home Panorama (April 27, 2022)

A 150° panorama of the auroral arc across the northern sky, shot from home in Alberta on April 27, 2022. The camera picked up the blue colour at the top of the curtains at left in the northwest from high-altitude sunlight illuminating the tops of the curtains. Otherwise, oxygen reds and greens dominate this fairly quiet display. Coincidentally, the arc of the aurora nicely follows the arc of the Milky Way across the north, then at its lowest for the year in the spring sky. The winter stars Castor, Pollux and Capella are setting at left; Perseus and Cassiopeia are left of centre; Cygnus (with Deneb) is rising in the northeast right of centre; Vega in Lyra is at upper right, as the summer stars rise in the northeast. Some of the lights in the distance are from farmers in the area preparing the fields for the spring seeding. This is a stitch of 7 segments, each 30 seconds with the RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 24mm, on the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 3200. The camera was on the Star Adventurer tracker, so these are all tracked, but the exposures are short enough that the ground is not blurred too badly, yet the stars are not trailed. Stitched in Camera Raw.

Aurora from Home (April 3, 2022)

A green and red aurora from home, April 3, 2022. A single shot with the TTArtisan 21mm lens at f/2 and Canon R6.

Light Pillar and Aurora Panorama

An unusual combination of an ice crystal light pillar, at left, with an aurora across the north with green, red and magenta curtains, April 1, 2022, from home in Alberta. This is a panorama of 5 segments with the TTArtisan 21mm lens at f/2 and Canon ROS R6 at ISO 1600 for 25 seconds each. Stitched with Photoshop and straightened with the Adaptive Wide Angle filter.

Aurora Panorama from Home (March 30, 2022)

The start of a Kp5 level display on March 30, 2022 which was widely seen this night. But clouds moved in to block the view from home. This is a panorama of 6 segments with the TTArtisan 21mm lens at f/2 and Canon R6 at ISO 1600 for 20 seconds each. Stitched with ACR.

Auroral Arc Panorama #2 (Nov 28, 2021)

A panorama of a dual-arc auroral oval across the north, shot from home about 8:30 pm MST on Nov. 28, 2021. The Kp got up to 4 this night. The Big Dipper is left of centre; Orion is rising at right. This is an 7-section panorama, each at 15s at ISO 3200 and f/2.8 with the TTArtisan 21mm lens and Canon R6. Stitched with ACR.

Auroral Arc Panorama #1 (Nov 28, 2021)

A panorama of a dual-arc auroral oval across the north, shot from home about 8:07 pm MST on Nov. 28, 2021. The Kp got up to 4 this night. The Big Dipper is left of centre; Orion is rising at right. This is an 11-section panorama, each at 15s at ISO 3200 and f/2.8 with the TTArtisan 21mm lens and Canon R6. Stitched with ACR.

All-Sky Aurora #3 — November 4, 2021

A sky-filling Kp7-level aurora on the morning of November 4, 2021, from home in southern Alberta. The aurora was pulsing and flaming upwards over most of the sky, while more normal curtains slowly moved across the north. For a few minutes, very prominent red-topped curtains formed and filled the northern sky and moved from west to east. This was just past their peak. Note the blue curtains to the east as they catch the sunlight at their high altitude pre-dawn. A little pink nitrogen fringe appears along the bottom of the bright curtains low in the north. This is a single 6s shot with the 7.5mm TTArtisan fish-eye lens at f/2 and the Canon R6 at ISO 3200. Taken at 5:06 am MDT.

All-Sky Aurora #2 — November 4, 2021

A sky-filling Kp7-level aurora on the morning of November 4, 2021, from home in southern Alberta. The aurora was pulsing and flaming upwards over most of the sky, while more normal curtains slowly moved across the north. For a few minutes, very prominent red-topped curtains formed and filled the northern sky and moved from west to east. This was at their peak. Note the blue curtains to the east as they catch the sunlight at their high altitude pre-dawn. This is a single 4s shot with the 7.5mm TTArtisan fish-eye lens at f/2 and the Canon R6 at ISO 6400. Taken at 4:57 am MDT.

All-Sky Aurora #1 — November 4, 2021

A sky-filling Kp7-level aurora on the morning of November 4, 2021, from home in southern Alberta. The aurora was pulsing and flaming upwards over most of the sky, while more normal curtains slowly moved across the north. A touch of blue is appearing in the east at right. This is a single 4s shot with the 7.5mm TTArtisan fish-eye lens at f/2 and the Canon R6 at ISO 6400. Taken at 4:52 am MDT.

Aurora Panorama from Home (Nov 3, 2021)

The early stages of a G3 solar storm and aurora show on Nov. 3/4, 2021, with the aurora as a bright glow across the north amid cloud reflecting light pollution. Orion is rising at right. Vega is setting at left. The Big Dipper is at centre. Capella is bright at upper right, to the left of the Pleiades. This is a stitch of 6 segments with the 15-35mm RF lens at 15mm on the Canon R6, each 30s at f/2.8 and ISO 1600. Stitched with ACR.

Aurora with Red Curtains (Oct 11, 2021)

The G2 auroral storm of October 11/12, 2021 with the curtains exhibiting red tops from high-altitude oxygen. This was from home in southern Alberta. This is with the TT Artisan circular 11mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8, on the Canon R6 at ISO 1600 for 15 seconds.

Aurora with Red Curtains - Fish-Eye (Oct 11, 2021)

The G2 auroral storm of October 11/12, 2021 with the curtains exhibiting red tops from high-altitude oxygen. This was from home in southern Alberta. This is with the TT Artisan circular 7.5mm fish-eye lens at f/2, on the Canon R6 at ISO 1600 for 13 seconds.

Aurora with Red SAR Arc and Blobs #2 (Oct 11, 2021)

The G2 auroral storm of October 11/12, 2021 looking south to a dim red arc (a SAR arc likely) that appeared for a few minutes associated with green blobs. This was from home in southern Alberta. The green areas were visible to the unaided eye but the red SAR arc was not; only the camera picked it up. This is with the TT Artisan circular 7.5mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2, on the Canon R6 at ISO 2000 for 13 seconds.

Aurora with Red SAR Arc and Blobs #1 (Oct 11, 2021)

The G2 auroral storm of October 11/12, 2021 looking south to a dim red arc (a SAR arc likely) that appeared for a few minutes associated with green blobs. This was from home in southern Alberta. The green areas were visible to the unaided eye but the red SAR arc was not; only the camera picked it up. This is with the TT Artisan circular 7.5mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2, on the Canon R6 at ISO 2000 for 13 seconds.

Aurora with Blobs Structures (Oct 11, 2021)

The G2 auroral storm of October 11/12, 2021 with the curtains exhibiting detached auroral "blobs" structures. This was from home in southern Alberta. This is with RF28-70mm lens at f/2, on the Canon R6 at ISO 1600 for 10 seconds.

All-Sky Aurora (Oct 11, 2021)

The G2 auroral storm of October 11/12, 2021 in a fish-eye view taking in most of the sky to show the aurora filling the sky with curtains. This is with the TT Artisan circular 7.5mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2, on the Canon R6 at ISO 1600 for 6 seconds.

Aurora with Dunes Structures - Fish-Eye (Oct 11, 2021)

The G2 auroral storm of October 11/12, 2021 with the curtains exhibiting a horizontal "dunes" structure. This was from home in southern Alberta. This is with the TT Artisan circular 7.5mm fish-eye lens at f/2, on the Canon R6 at ISO 1600 for 15 seconds.

Aurora with Dunes Structures (Oct 11, 2021)

The G2 auroral storm of October 11/12, 2021 with the curtains exhibiting a horizontal "dunes" structure. This was from home in southern Alberta. This is with the 11mm TT Artisan full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8, on the Canon R6 at ISO 1600 for 13 seconds.

Panorama of the Auroral Storm of October 11, 2021

A 120° panorama of the initial arc of Northern Lights at the start of an evening of aurora during a G2 storm on October 11/12, 2021, Thanksgiving Day in Canada. This was from home in southern Alberta, Canada. Moonlight from the waxing crescent Moon tints the sky. Note the subtle shades of red and variations of green in the arc. The panorama shows off the classic auroral oval centred on the direction of the north magnetic pole, to the northeast of true north at my longitude in western Canada. The Big Dipper is at left and its Pointer stars in the bowl point up to true north (Polaris is off the frame). This is a panorama of 13 segments at 15° spacings, with the RF 28-70mm lens at 28mm and at f/2 on the Canon R6 at ISO 1600 for 4 seconds each. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.

Red Aurora from Dinosaur Park (August 29, 2021)

A dim red and green aurora from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on August 29/30, 2021. There were expectations of a bigger display this night, but litte came to pass! Capella is rising at centre; Perseus is at top right. This is a stack of 4 exposures for the ground to smooth noise and one exposure for the sky, all 30 seconds at f/2.8 with the Canon 15-35mm RF lens at 25mm and the Canon R6 at ISO 4000.

Aurora from Home (August 24, 2021)

A mild display of Northern Lights in the moonlight, from home in southern Alberta, August 24, 2021. This is a single 15-second exposure with the 15-35mm RF lens at f/2.8 and 20mm, on the Canon R6 at ISO 800.

Perseid Meteor Shower over Dinosaur Park

A composite showing about three dozen Perseid meteors accumulated over 3 hours of time, compressed into one image showing the radiant point of the meteor shower in Perseus. This was August 12, 2021, from The Trail of the Fossil Hunters trailhead lot in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. A dim magenta aurora is visible to the northeast at left. Cassiopeia is at centre above the radiant point; the Andromeda Galaxy is just right of centre. Capella is rising at left. Airglow also tints the sky. This is a blend of: a single 30-second exposure for the background sky, one with the aurora at its most active, such as it was this night, with a stack of 8 x 30-second exposures for the ground to smooth noise. Then 32 x 30-second exposures for the individual meteors (a couple of frames have two meteors on them) are overlaid with Lighten blend mode onto the base sky image, each with masks to reveal just the meteors. All frames were with the Canon R6 at ISO 6400 and with the TTArtisan 11mm fish-eye lens at f/2.8. The camera was on a static tripod, not tracking the sky, so I hand-rotated all the meteor frames around Polaris at upper left, to bring them into close alignment to the base sky image, so the positions of all the meteors are close to their actual positions in the starfield when they appeared. A couple of exceptions were the meteors at bottom which appeared in Taurus, below the horizon at the time the sky image was taken, so those meteors are moved up artificially. ON1 NoNoise applied to the sky image. Ground illumination is from starlight.

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.

Aurora from Home on June 10, 2021

A mild aurora with the glow of perpetual solstice twilight across the north, on the night of June 10/11, 2021. Taken with the TTArtisan 21mm lens as part of testing.