A 360° panorama of the landscape and skyscape at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada, taken August 25, 2014. The Milky Way arches overhead from south to north at right, and the last vestiges of twilight light the western sky at left, providing a natural backdrop for the silhouette of the photographer gazing wistfully into the distance! Some green bands of airglow also light the sky, but only a few farm lights from outside the boundaries of the Park mar the landscape in this darkest of Dark Sky Preserves in Canada. I shot this from the Eagle Butte Loop Trail at the end of the 70 Mile Butte road. Sagittarius and the centre of the Galaxy is at far right, the Big Dipper is above the person. This is a sttich of 9 sections, each shot with the 14mm lens in portrait orientation, and each exposure 80 seconds at ISO 3200 at f/2.8, untracked. Stitched with PTGui in equirectangular projection.
A 360° panorama of the observing field at the 2019 Saskatchewan Summer Star Party in the Centre Block of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Saskatchewan, a Dark Sky Preserve. This was August 31, 2019 on a less than ideal night with thin cloud about, while an aurora brightening with a Kp5 level display colours the sky at right to the northeast. The Milky Way is at left to the south. The Big Dipper in haze is right of centre. This is an 11-segment panorama, each 30 seconds at f/2 with the Sigma 24mm lens and Nikon D750 in landscape orientation and at ISO 6400. Stitched with PTGui. ACR worked but did not allow framing the scene as desired.
A 180° panorama of the spring sky and constellations rising in the east over the Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on March 29, 2019. The Big Dipper is at top with its handle pointing down to Arcturus and Spica (just rising above the horizon). Leo is at right of centre, flanked by the Beehive and Coma Berenices star clusters. Polaris is at left — however, the distortion introduced by the panorama stitching at high altitudes here stretches out the sky at top and means that the Dipper’s Pointer stars do not point in a straight line to Polaris. The faint Zodiacal Band is visible at right, brightening toward the horizon in the Gegenschein. This is a stitch of 6 segments, each with the 14mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750 in portrait mode, each 30 seconds at f/2.8 and ISO 4000. Stitched with PTGui. I added a mild Orton glow effect with Luminar.
