The Big and Little Dippers, and Polaris over the boreal forest amid subtly coloured aurora at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. Taken on Feb 11, 2018 on a night with a decent display of Northern Lights. Arcturus is at right. Cassiopeia is at left.
A panorama of the arc of the auroral oval on a partly cloudy night from the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, in Churchill, Manitoba. This was February 8, 2018, on a night when a blizzard was forecast, but held off long enough to allow views of the Lights in the early evening before the clouds completely moved in. The Big Dipper is at right, pointing to Polaris just left of top centre. Cassiopeia is at far left, opposite the Big Dipper. The Kp Index was 2 this night. This is a 4-segment panorama with the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 lens, each for 4 seconds at ISO 3200 with the Nikon D750. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
A 240° panorama of a not very active display of Northern Lights to the north (left of centre), then sweeping around to the south (at right) and the winter stars of Orion and Canis Major. Sirius is bright and in some cloud, accentuating its size and colour. Leo is rising at centre. The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are left of centre. The Milky Way appears at far left, in the area of Perseus and Cepheus, and again at far right through Monoceros and past Orion and Canis Major. The aurora display the characteristic green and red curtains from oxygen, but there is also a dim red curtain at left (northwest) and at centre (east) south of the main curtain and separated. It looks like a dim Steve arc but this was not visible to the eye and never became well formed or bright. This is a stitch of 8 segments with the 14mm Sigma Art lens, at f/2 for 13 seconds each, and Nikon D750 at ISO 3200. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. Taken from home January 13, 2018. The constellations are distorted slightly by the panorama projection and warping. I began a time-lapse after this, but clouds rolled in from the northwest.
