Constellations - Big Dipper
Comet ZTF in Moonlight (Jan 28, 2023)
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on the night of January 28, 2023 with it between the two Dippers and near Polaris in the northern sky. It is here barely visible in moonlight as the first quarter Moon was lighting the sky a deep blue. The comet just stands out as a cyan glow. It was visible in binoculars as a grey patch with no sign of a tail. This is a stack of 9 x 30-second exposures with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 33mm and f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. The camera was on the Star Adventurer tracker. A separate exposure through the Alyn Wallace/Kase StarGlow filter blended in added the photogenic star glows to make the constellation patterns stand out better. Taken from home on a chilly -20° C night. A version with labels is also available.
Comet ZTF in Moonlight (Jan 28, 2023) with Labels
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on the night of January 28, 2023 with it between the two Dippers and near Polaris in the northern sky. It is here barely visible in moonlight as the first quarter Moon was lighting the sky a deep blue. The comet just stands out as a cyan glow. It was visible in binoculars as a grey patch with no sign of a tail. This is a stack of 9 x 30-second exposures with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 33mm and f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. The camera was on the Star Adventurer tracker. A separate exposure through the Alyn Wallace/Kase StarGlow filter blended in added the photogenic star glows to make the constellation patterns stand out better. Taken from home on a chilly -20° C night. This version has labels; an unlabelled clean version is available.
Comet ZTF Between the Dippers (Jan 24, 2023)
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) here as a small green fuzzy star between the Big and Little Dippers on January 24, 2023. Polaris is in the top left corner. The comet was easy in binoculars but barely naked eye. And only the camera picks up its green colour. The short tail, just visible here, showed up visually in large 70mm binoculars This is a single 15-second untracked exposure with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and f/2 on the Canon Ra at ISO 3200. Noise reduction with Noise XTerminator. Taken from home in southern Alberta, latitude 51° N.
Auroral Arc Between the Milky Ways
This is a 270° panorama of the auroral arc seen across the northern sky on January 14, 2023. It is framed between the setting summer Milky Way (at left in the northwest) and the rising winter Milky Way (at right in the southeast). To the west (right) of the winter Milky Way is Orion, with Sirius below, while above is Aldebaran, the Hyades, reddish Mars, and the blue Pleiades at upper right. The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are above the main arc of aurora to the north at centre. Polaris is at top, left of centre. Cygnus (with the star Deneb) and Lyra (with the star Vega) are setting at left above my house. The auroral arc shows the characteristic yellow-green colour but also upper altitude reds, both from oxygen atoms. The Kp index was about 4 this night, though peaking to Kp5 at times. Clouds rolling in later prevented me from catching more of the show later when it apparently got more active. Taken from home in southern Alberta (latitude 51° N) on January 14, 2023, in a 7-section panorama, each section with the Venus Optics 15mm lens at f/2 on the AstroGear filter-modified Canon R at ISO 800, for 20 seconds each. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. I was testing the Canon R camera this night.
M51, M101 and Mizar in Big Dipper Handle (with Labels)
This wide-field image frames the end stars of the Big Dipper's handle — Mizar at top, and Alkaid at bottom — and to also include in the frame the bright galaxies Messier 101 (at left) and Messier 51 (at lower right, aka the Whirlpool Galaxy). They are small on this image scale but the image serves for a finder chart illustration of the location of these galaxies relative to the Handle. The famous double star Mizar and Alcor is also obvious at top, as is the red giant star 83 Ursa Majoris. The field is 10° x 15°, so wider than binoculars. This is a stack of 8 x 1-minute exposures with the Canon EF 135mm lens stopped down to /2.8 (thus the diffraction spikes on the stars) on the Canon Ra at ISO 1600, all on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker.
M51, M101 and Mizar in Big Dipper Handle
This wide-field image frames the end stars of the Big Dipper's handle — Mizar at top, and Alkaid at bottom — and to also include in the frame the bright galaxies Messier 101 (at left) and Messier 51 (at lower right, aka the Whirlpool Galaxy). They are small on this image scale but the image serves for a finder chart illustration of the location of these galaxies relative to the Handle. The famous double star Mizar and Alcor is also obvious at top, as is the red giant star 83 Ursa Majoris. The field is 10° x 15°, so wider than binoculars. This is a stack of 8 x 1-minute exposures with the Canon EF 135mm lens stopped down to /2.8 (thus the diffraction spikes on the stars) on the Canon Ra at ISO 1600, all on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker.
The constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, and the asterism of the Big Dipper low in the north over Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, on a clear autumn night. Arcturus is at left setting over Pyramid Mountain. Bands of airglow tint the sky, but also unfortunately, so does light pollution from the Park's service areas to the north of the townsite. This is a blend of a single tracked 2-minute exposure for the sky and water with the reflected stars, with a single untracked 4-minute exposure for the rest of the ground, both at f/2.8 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 17mm and Canon R5 at ISO 800. I shot this October 16, 2022. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo. Diffraction spikes on stars added with Astronomy Tools actions.
Northern Stars over Lake Edith
A panorama of the northern stars in autumn over and reflected in the calm waters of Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, in the deep twilight. The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are at left, with Arcturus over Pyramid Mountain at far left. Capella is rising at right, and above it are the stars of Perseus and Cassiopeia. This was on a very clear mid-October night in 2022. This is a blend of two panoramas: a 4 x 1-minute tracked panorama for the sky at ISO 800, and a 4 x 2-minute untracked panorama taken immediately afterwards at ISO 1600, all with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 15mm, on the Canon R5. Stitched in Adobe Camera Raw. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini.
Northern Stars over Lake Edith in Twilight
A panorama of Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, Alberta, on a calm autumn night, looking north to the stars of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, and the Big Dipper in deep twilight. Arcturus is at far left setting in the northwest over Pyramid Mountain, while Capella in Auriga and the stars of Perseus are rising at right in the northeast. This was on a mid-October night when the Big Dipper rides low in the northern sky from this latitude of 53° N. This is a panorama of four segments, each 30 seconds untracked with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 1000. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
Big Dipper Over Pyramid Mountain at Moonrise
The stars of the Big Dipper over the iconic peak of Pyramid Mountain from Pyramid Island, a popular location in Jasper National Park, Alberta, for nightscape and aurora photography. This was on a very clear night in mid-October, 2022, with many aspen stands still in full autumn colour. The images for this scene were shot at moonrise, with the waning gibbous Moon off frame at right lighting the sky blue and landscape with warm alpenglow moonlight. As bonus, a short bright meteor and its orange "smoke" trail appeared on the sky exposures. I shot this during the first weekend of the 2022 Jasper Dark Sky Festival, and so there were quite a few people on the island and around Pyramid Lake this night enjoying the stars on this mild autumn night. This is a blend of: a stack of 4 x 1-minute tracked exposures for the sky at ISO 1600 plus a stack of 6 x 3-minute untracked exposures at ISO 800 for the ground, all with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 20mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. The tracked exposures were shot first, followed immediately by the untracked ground exposures timed to catch the alpenglow lighting of the mountain and trees. I enhanced the landscape slightly with the Radiant Photo plug in and added a mild Orton glow with Luminar Neo. Noise reduction was with ON1 NoNoise AI.
This is a panorama of Peyto Lake in Banff National Park, on the Icefields Parkway in Alberta, taken at moonrise on a very clear and mild mid-October evening. The glacier-fed lake appears its characteristic blue even when lit by starlight. It is not blended in from an earlier "blue hour" shot. To the southwest at left is the summer Milky Way over Peyto Glacier and Peyto Peak. To the west at centre is Arcturus setting over Caldron Peak, while to the north at left of centre are the stars of the Big Dipper and Ursa Major. At far right, in the blue moonlit sky, is Perseus and the autumn Milky Way. At far left over the walkway is Saturn in Capricornus. Magenta airglow tints the northern sky and nicely frames the peaks, which are lit by golden lunar alpenglow, warm light from the rising waning gibbous Moon behind the peaks at right to the east. This is an example of a "moonstrike" image; the timing was perfect this night to catch the mix of Milky Way and alpenglow. I was the only one there that night to enjoy the view, and occupy the prime spot at the end of the new viewpoint. This is a blend of two panoramas: the first of the sky taken at or just before moonrise with the camera on a star tracker to keep the stars pinpoint, and the second taken for the ground about 20 minutes later with the tracker off, when the Moon was up high enough to light the peaks of the Continental Divide west of Peyto Lake. Both pans were with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8, and Canon R5 at ISO 1600, with the sky pan being 6 segments for 1 minute each, and the untracked ground panorama being the same 6 segments for 2 minutes each, but with LENR on to subtract thermal noise hot pixels from the image, something the R5 is prone to. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw and masked and blended in Photoshop. Noise reduction was with ON1 NoNoise AI, and foreground enhancement with the Radiant Photo plug-in, plus with a mild Orton glow added mostly to the sky with Luminar Neo.
The Great Bear over Peyto Lake
The stars of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, over the waters of Peyto Lake, Banff, in deep twilight. Arcturus in Böotes, the Bear Driver, is setting over the peak at left. Ursa Major contains the seven stars that make up the Big Dipper, aka the Plough or the Wagon. This was October 13, 2022 on a very clear night in the Rocky Mountains. This is a stack of 6 x 30-second exposures for the ground and a single untracked 30-second exposure for the sky, all at f/2.8 with the Canon RF 15-35mm lens at 15mm, and Canon R5 at ISO 800.
Panorama of a Colourful Aurora on August 28, 2022
A panorama of a colouful Kp4 level aurora on August 28, 2022, from home in southern Alberta (latitude 51° N). It shows the classic oxygen yellow-greens topped by oxygen reds, but with magentas and blues at left to the northwest where sunlight might still be interacting with the auroral curtains. In this panorama, the upper curtains also take on an orange hue. Above the main curtains are some blobs of pulsating green patches. The Big Dipper and Arcturus are at left. Cassiopeia, Perseus, Andromeda and Pegasus are at centre and at right. Jupiter is the bright object rising at right. Saturn is the dimmer object at far right. This is a panorama of 8 segments, each 10 seconds at f/2.8 with the RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and Canon R5 at ISO 1600. Stitched with PTGui as Camera Raw and Photoshop refused to either stitch all segments (ACR) or provided a distorted projection (PS Photomerge).
Big Dipper, Polaris and Cassiopeia Over Trees
The stars of the Big Dipper at left and the W of Cassiopeia at right over a silhouette of trees in the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Saskatchewan. Polaris and the Little Dipper are at centre. This serves to illustrate the location of these northern stars in late summer and autumn. The Andromeda Galaxy is at upper right, with a short meteor trail below it. This is a stack of 4 x 30-second exposures for the ground blended with a single 30-second exposure for the sky, all with the Canon R5 at ISO 3200 and RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8.
The Northern Stars at Moonrise at Dinosaur Park
This captures a panorama of the northern sky over the foreground landscape of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, with the waning Moon rising, and an arc of Northern Lights above the northern horizon. A Kp6 show was forecast for this night but nothing spectacular materialized -- we had just a quiescent arc across the north. This was on the night of August 17-18, 2022. The Moon rising at right is the last quarter Moon. Jupiter is the bright object at far right. The Big Dipper and Arcturus are at left; Polaris is at upper left of centre; Cassiopeia and Perseus are at right of centre; while Andromeda and Pegasus are at right. The Andromeda Galaxy is above the Moon. This is a panorama of a blend of 6 tracked (for the sky) and 6 untracked (for the ground) exposures: 2 minutes at f/2.8 and ISO 1600 for the ground and shadow detail, and 1 minute at f/2.8 and ISO 800 for the sky, all with the stock Canon R5 and RF15-35mm lens set at 19mm and the camera turned in portrait orientation. Spacing of the segments was at 30° intervals. The panorama segments for the ground and sky were stitched with Adobe Camera Raw into two panoramas using the same settings, then masked and blended with Photoshop. An additional short exposure of the segment with the Moon in it was blended in to reduce the bright Moon glare. The camera was on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. The AstroPanel v6 extension panel and its excellent Hot Pixel removal action was used to suppress the abundance of hot pixels in the ground image, resulting from this being a very warm night, and my need to take the image set fast before the Moon rose too high -- so I did not use in-camera Long Exposure Noise Reduction, though I should have! I added a mild Orton effect glow with Luminar AI. The original is 18,800 by 6,500 pixels.
Auroral Arc over Wheatfield (Aug 7, 2022)
An arc of a Kp-5 aurora over a wheatfield from home in southern Alberta. The panorama takes in the northern stars, from the Big Dipper and Ursa Major at left, to the W of Cassiopeia at top right of centre, with Perseus below Cassiopeia, and Andromeda and Pegasus at right. Moonlight from the waxing gibbous Moon low in the southwest illuminates the scene. Jupiter is rising at far right low in the southeast. This was taken when the display was at its most active. An hour later as it was fading STEVE appeared in a fabulous show. This is a panorama of 7 segments with the Canon R5 at ISO 800, and Canon RF15-35mm lens at 18mm and f/2.8 for 25 seconds each. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
Badlands formations in Dinosaur Provincial Park lit by the light from the July 2022 "supermoon" Full Moon off frame at right and behind the hill, on a very clear night. The stars of the northern sky are set in a deep blue sky. Arcturus is at far left; the Big Dipper is at left (distorted somewhat by the panorama projection); Polaris is left of centre at top; Cassiopeia is right of center; Andromeda and Pegasus are below the W of Cassiopeia, and at far right is the star Altair. The Full Moon was low in the sky to the south and so its light was "warm" in tone and subdued somewhat, allowing the stars to show up better than had it been a high Full Moon, as in winter. And it tints the sky blue, providing a nice contrast with the warm earth tones of the ground. This is a panorama cropped from 9 segments, each 20 seconds untracked, with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 16mm and f/4, and Canon Ra at ISO 400, in landscape orientation. Stitched n Adobe Camera Raw. A mild Pro Contrast effect added to the ground with Nik Collection Color EFX and a mild Orton glow added to the sky with Luminar AI. The original is 14,000 pixels wide.
Big Dipper Over Moonlit Hoodoos
The Big Dipper and Ursa Major over moonlit formations at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. Illumination is from the waxing gibbous Moon, setting in the southwest so it is providing a warm "bronze-hour" light. The scene provides a nice contrast of warm earth and cool sky tones. Taken July 8, 2022, this is a blend of tracked (for the sky) and untracked (for the ground) exposures — a stack of 2 for the ground and 2 for the sky: 2 minutes at f/5.6 and ISO 800 for the ground and 1 minute at f/2.8 and ISO 400 for the sky, all with the RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and Canon R5. A mild Pro Contrast effect filter added to the ground with Nik Collection 5 and a mild Orton glow added to the sky with Luminar AI. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. The mosquitoes enjoyed my presence here this warm July night!
Northern Sky Panorama in Summer Twilight
A panorama of the northern summer sky on an early July night from latitude 51° N with the sky blue with perpetual twilight all night. The Big Dipper is at upper left, Polaris is at upper centre (due north), and Cassiopeia is at right. Andromeda is rising at lower right. Capella is due north just above the horizon. The waxing Moon is setting at lower left. This was from Crawling Lake in southern Alberta, Canada, at midnight daylight time on July 5/6, 2022. It is a stitch of 8 segments, each 30 seconds untracked, with the RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8, with the Canon R5 at ISO 400 and in portrait orientation. Stitched with some effort with PTGui. Another panorama taken later up the road made of 12 segments to cover a wider scene but looking over more of the water refused to stitch.
The Tau Herculids Meteor Shower (15mm)
The rare Tau Herculids meteor shower predicted for May 30/31, 2022 as a possible meteor storm, but produced a modest "normal" meteor shower. The meteors appeared yellowish (as in the bright meteor) and were slow-moving, and often had a sparkling effect as they moved, again as per the irregular brightness of the bright meteor streak. The meteors are from remnants of the Comet 73P/Schawassmann-Wachmann 3 which broke apart in 1995. This is a blend of exposures taken over 90 minutes from 11:24 pm MDT to 12:52 am MDT, capturing 15 meteors, including a very bright one, the best of the night, which left an orange ionization "smoke" trail expanding away from the meteor over the next few minutes. Another fainter meteor below centre also left a short "smoke trail." This shows the radiant point of the Tau Herculids, actually located in Boötes above the bright star Arcturus below centre. The Coma Berenices star cluster is below the bright meteor. Corona Borealis and Hercules are left of Arcturus, while bright Vega in Lyra is at far left. The Big Dipper is at top. This is a blend of 29 exposures for the meteors and smoke trails, stacked onto the sky background taken just before the very bright meteor occured earlier in the night when the sky was still blue from lingering twilight. All were with the Canon R6 for 15 seconds each but at ISOs from 800 to 3200, increased through the night as the sky darkened, and with the 15mm Venus Optics lens wide open at f/2. The camera was on a tracking mount to keep the stars stationary over the sequence to aid in aligning and stacking the images, so the meteors appear in their correct positions relative to the background stars. Shot from home in Alberta on a very clear and fine night, a pleasant change for a celestial event!
Big Dipper and the Northern Spring Constellations
A wide-angle image of the main northern spring sky constellations — with the Big Dipper and Ursa Major at top, and Leo below it. At left is Arcturus in Bootes and at bottom left, Spica in Virgo. Leo is flanked by two large star clusters: Mel111, the Coma Berenices cluster at left of Leo (but in the centre of the image), and M44, the Beehive cluster at right of Leo in Cancer (at lower right in the image). This is a good image for illustrating the "Arc to Arcturus and Speed to Spica" expression, as well as the placement of Leo below the Bowl of the Dipper. And the location of the North Galactic Pole and Realm of the Galaxies. This is a stack of 4 x 2.5 minute exposures with the RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 800. The camera was on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker. Taken from home April 27, 2022.
Spring All-Sky Panorama (April 2022)
A 360° "all-sky" panorama of the northern spring sky, taken when the North Galactic Pole was almost due south high in the sky, so we are looking up out of the plane of our galaxy. The Milky Way is visible but only as an arc low across the north, and on this night (April 27, 2022) an arc of a dim green and magenta aurora nicely coincided with the location of the Milky Way. The North Galactic Pole is located just left of the Coma Berenices star cluster below centre. Due south is at bottom; west toward the city is at right; east is at left. The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are directly overhead at centre. Polaris and Ursa Minor/Little Dipper are above centre. Leo is below centre partly in a faint band of Zodiacal Light. The Handle of the Dipper arcs down to yellowish Arcturus, while buish Spica is at bottom low in the south. Vega is rising in the east at left. Capella, and the pair of Castor and Pollux in the winter sky are setting at right. Leo is flanked by the star clusters M44 the Beehive at right and the Coma Berenices Mel111 cluster at left below centre. This is a stitch of 24 segments: 8 segments 45° apart horizontally in 3 tiers 30° apart vertically, for 40 seconds each, with the RF15-35mm lens at 24mm and f/2.8, and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 2000, on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker, using the Alyn Wallace V-plate to place the camera on a horizontal plane for panning around. I moved the camera manually between frames. Stitched with PTGui. Taken from home in southern Alberta at latitude 51° N. The original is 16,500 by 16,500 pixels.
Northern Auroral Oval from Churchill (Feb 28, 2022)
The arc of the auroral oval across the north, from the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, in Churchill, Manitoba, February 28, 2022. This is looking north during a low-level Kp2 display. The Big Dipper is at top, with Polaris below at centre. This is a single 13-second exposure with the TTArtisan 11mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon R6 at ISO 1600.
Dim Red & Green Auroral Arcs (Feb 26, 2022)
A dim aurora from the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, in Churchill, Manitoba on February 26, 2022. This aurora was at Kp1 level (very low) and appeared only as featureless grey arcs to the eye. But the camera picked up unusual red colouration, and even some yellow-oranges, along with the more normal greens. The reds are odd for such a low-level aurora as the oxygen reds typically appear only when the aurora gets very active and energetic. The display did brighten later this night when it took on the more classic green arcs, with occasional lower fringes of nitrogen pinks. But at the start of the night the reds dominated. The Big Dipper is at top centre. Vega is at bottom left. Arcturus is a bottom right. This is a single frame with the TTArtisan 11mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8 for 30 seconds with the Canon Ra at ISO 3200.