Constellations - Orion
Comet ZTF in Auriga (Feb 8, 2023)
Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in the constellation of Auriga on the night of Feb 8, 2023. The comet is the small cyan-coloured glow above centre. It was technically in Auriga but heading south into Taurus and in front of the Taurus Dark Clouds here at centre. Mars is the bright orange object right of centre. At right are the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters, the latter with reddish Aldebaran. Other Messier-catalogue star clusters are in the frame: M36, M37 and M38 in Auriga and M35 in Gemini. The red emission nebulas in this part of the Milky Way also stand out, notably the California Nebula, NGC 1499, at top in Perseus, and the Flaming Star Nebula, IC 405, in Auriga at centre. At bottom is the large faint nebula around Lambda Orionis, or Meissa, in Orion. Capella is at top; Castor and Pollux are at left. This is a stack of 4 x 1-minute exposures at ISO 1600 with the red-sensitive AstroGear modified Canon R and with the RF28-70mm lens at f/2.8 and 28mm. This is one segment of a Milky Way panorama taken this night, from Dinosaur Provincial Park, using the Star Adventurer tracker.
Orion and Sirius over the moonlit badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on Feb. 4, 2023 with the waxing gibbous Moon providing the illumination on this very clear and mild night. This is a blend of two 30-second exposures: one untracked for the ground and one tracked for the sky, both with the RF28-70mm lens at f/4 and Canon R5 at ISO 200, on the Star Adventurer tracker. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo and star diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions. It was a perfect winter night, with the temperature only at 0° C and no wind.
The Winter Sky over the Badlands (with Labels)
The sparkling winter stars and constellations over the moonlit badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on Feb. 4, 2023. The waxing gibbous Moon is off frame at left providing the illumination on this very clear and mild night. Captured here in a vertical panorama from below the horizon to past the zenith. Orion is below centre, with his Belt pointing down to Sirius and up to Aldebaran. Above reddish Aldebaran is Mars, as it was on Feb 4, 2023. Above Mars is the blue Pleiades cluster. At top left is the bright star Capella in Auriga. Just above Capella is the tiny cyan-coloured fuzzy spot that is Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), again where it was this night as it was heading southward into Auriga and Taurus, after its closest approach to Earth 3 days earlier. It was nearly overhead this night and an easy sighting in binoculars. I could not frame Castor and Pollux in Gemini as the Moon was too close to that area. A better night for Moon position and lighting geometry would have been a week later with the rising waning Moon, but the clouds did not allow that. I took this night and made the best of it! This is a blend of seven 30-second exposures: one untracked for the ground and a stitch of 6 tracked for the sky, all with the RF28-70mm lens at f/4 and Canon R5 at ISO 200, on the Star Adventurer tracker. The camera was oriented in landscape format and moved upward in increments of 15° per segment. The panorama segments had to be stitched with PTGui, but even then with difficulty as it required adding a lot of manual alignment points for it to successfully stitch all segments. I used the Transverse Cylindrical projection to retain the straight horizon and rectangular image format. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo and star diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions for a "sparkling" effect. It was a perfect winter night, with the temperature only at 0° C and no wind. It was just me there that night, me and the howling coyotes echoing across the valley. This version has labels. A clean version is also available.
The Winter Sky over the Badlands
The sparkling winter stars and constellations over the moonlit badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta on Feb. 4, 2023. The waxing gibbous Moon is off frame at left providing the illumination on this very clear and mild night. Captured here in a vertical panorama from below the horizon to past the zenith. Orion is below centre, with his Belt pointing down to Sirius and up to Aldebaran. Above reddish Aldebaran is Mars, as it was on Feb 4, 2023. Above Mars is the blue Pleiades cluster. At top left is the bright star Capella in Auriga. Just above Capella is the tiny cyan-coloured fuzzy spot that is Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), again where it was this night as it was heading southward into Auriga and Taurus, after its closest approach to Earth 3 days earlier. It was nearly overhead this night and an easy sighting in binoculars. I could not frame Castor and Pollux in Gemini as the Moon was too close to that area. A better night for Moon position and lighting geometry would have been a week later with the rising waning Moon, but the clouds did not allow that. I took this night and made the best of it! This is a blend of seven 30-second exposures: one untracked for the ground and a stitch of 6 tracked for the sky, all with the RF28-70mm lens at f/4 and Canon R5 at ISO 200, on the Star Adventurer tracker. The camera was oriented in landscape format and moved upward in increments of 15° per segment. The panorama segments had to be stitched with PTGui, but even then with difficulty as it required adding a lot of manual alignment points for it to successfully stitch all segments. I used the Transverse Cylindrical projection to retain the straight horizon and rectangular image format. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo and star diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions for a "sparkling" effect. It was a perfect winter night, with the temperature only at 0° C and no wind. It was just me there that night, me and the howling coyotes echoing across the valley.
Orion and the Winter Stars in Moonlight
Orion and the winter stars and constellations in a moonlit sky, on a chilly (-20°C) winter night on January 28, 2023. Above Orion is Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster in Taurus. Below Orion is Sirius in Canis Major. The red giant Betelgeuse and the blue giant Rigel stand out nicely above and below the Belt. Light from the first quarter Moon off frame illuminates the landscape. This serves as a good illustration of how the Belt stars in Orion point up to Aldebaran and down to Sirius. This is a stack of 2 x 30-second exposures for the sky with the camera tracking the sky, blended with a stack of 3 x 30-second untracked exposures for the ground. All with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 200. A tracked exposure through the Alyn Wallace/Kase StarGlow filter added the star glows, and for artistic effect I also added diffraction spikes on the stars with the AstronomyTools actions. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo.
Orion and Sirius rising into a moonlit winter sky, on a chilly (-20°C) winter night on January 28, 2023. Below Orion is Sirius in Canis Major. The red giant Betelgeuse and the blue giant Rigel stand out nicely above and below the Belt. Light from the first quarter Moon off frame illuminates the landscape. This serves as a good illustration of how the Belt stars in Orion point down to Sirius. The minor constellation of Lepus the Hare is below Orion. And the "Pi" stars that form the arc of the shield of Orion show up to the right of Orion. This is a stack of 4 x 30-second exposures for the sky with the camera tracking the sky, blended with a stack of 4 x 30-second untracked exposures for the ground. All with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 33mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 200. A tracked exposure through the Alyn Wallace/Kase StarGlow filter added the star glows, and for artistic effect I also added diffraction spikes on the stars with the AstronomyTools actions. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo.
Mars at Opposition in the Winter Sky
The red planet Mars in the winter sky lit by the waxing gibbous Moon, off frame at right. Mars is at centre, and nearly at its brightest for the year with it 4 days before its December 2022 opposition. It appears in Taurus, east of the Hyades and below the Pleiades, and above Orion. Sirius is rising at bottom just above the horizon. Procyon and Canis Minor is at lower left, with Castor and Pollux in Gemini above. At upper left is Capella in Auriga. The stars of Perseus at at top. Taken from home in Alberta, December 3, 2022, with the old rake as a foreground object. This is a stack of 4 images for the ground to reduce noise blended with one exposure for the sky, all 13 seconds at f/4 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 16mm, on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. All untracked on a fixed tripod. Diffraction spikes added for artistic effect with Astronomy Tools actions.
Southern Sky and Aurora from CNSC (Feb 24, 2022)
A fish-eye image of the southern constellations and an auroral arc at the zenith from the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Feb. 24, 2022. Orion and the winter stars are at right; Leo and the spring stars are at left.
A portrait of the constellation of Orion taken in monochrome in the deep red light of the hydrogen-alpha wavelength using a narrowband filter, to emphasize the vast clouds of interstellar gas within and around Orion. The Orion Nebula is the bright object at lower centre; the Horsehead Nebula below the Belt of Orion is near centre; the bright object at upper left is the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros. The large circular glow at top around the head of Orion is Sharpless 2-264, the Lambda Orionis nebula. The curving arc on our left side of Orion is Sharpless 2-276, aka Barnard's Loop. This is a stack of 24 x 4-minute exposures with the red-sensitive Canon Ra camera at ISO 1600 shooting through the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 50mm and wide open at f/2. The filter was the Astronomik 12nm Ha clip-in filter. This was taken Feb 10, 2022 in bright moonlight with the waxing gibbous Moon just off frame at top, creating some challenging gradients.
The full array of northern winter stars and constellations, including Orion, setting in the evening twilight at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on April 20, 2021, so about the last opportunity to shoot the scene for the season. Light from the waxing quarter Moon just off frame at top illuminates the scene, plus the sky is still bright with twilight colours in the west. Orion is just all visible but with Rigel about to set. The Hyades and Pleiades in Taurus are just over the formation at right. Sirius in Canis Major is over the formation at left. Procyon in Canis Minor is at left of centre. Castor and Pollux in Gemini are the two stars at top. Capella in Auriga is at upper right. Perseus is at far right. Mars is dim at centre frame as an "extra star" between Gemini and Auriga. This is a stack of 4 x 30-second tracked exposures for the sky at ISO 800 and 4 x 1-minute untracked exposures for the ground at ISO 200, at f/4 with the 14mm Samyang SP lens on the Canon EOS Ra camera. The tracker was the Star Adventurer 2i. This is not a multi-segment panorama but is a multi-exposure stack. Stacked, masked and blended in Photoshop.
Late Winter/Early Spring Sky 360° Panorama
A 360° all-sky or fish-eye panorama of the late winter and early spring sky from a latitude of 51° N. This was March 13, 2021, from home in southern Alberta. This was a test of new panorama gear, using an Acratech Pan Head on top of a Alyn Wallace/MSM Z-Plate mounted to a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i tracker, to allow taking tracked segments for the panorama, to prevent star trailing. The Z-Plate allowed the Pan Head to mount and move horizontally and vertically in azimuth and altitude despite being on a polar aligned tracker. It worked! This night there was a bright aurora across the northern sky, so I have oriented the view to place due north at bottom. South is at top. High clouds and haze, partly lit by light pollution here, add the natural glows to the stars, emphasizing the bright stars and constellation patterns. No filter was used here. The ground is a stitch of 8 segments shot with the tracker motor off, then blended with a stitch of 20 segments for the sky, in 3 tiers of 8 + 6 + 6 segments, all with the Sigma 24mm lens at f/2.8 and for 1-minute with the Nikon D750 at ISO 1600 for all shots. Stitched with PTGui v12 which at last saves camera metadata when exporting PSD files. The original is 16,000 pixels square.
Late Winter/Early Spring Sky 360° Panorama (with Labels)
A 360° all-sky or fish-eye panorama of the late winter and early spring sky from a latitude of 51° N. This was March 13, 2021, from home in southern Alberta. This was a test of new panorama gear, using an Acratech Pan Head on top of a Alyn Wallace/MSM Z-Plate mounted to a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i tracker, to allow taking tracked segments for the panorama, to prevent star trailing. The Z-Plate allowed the Pan Head to mount and move horizontally and vertically in azimuth and altitude despite being on a polar aligned tracker. It worked! This night there was a bright aurora across the northern sky, so I have oriented the view to place due north at bottom. South is at top. High clouds and haze, partly lit by light pollution here, add the natural glows to the stars, emphasizing the bright stars and constellation patterns. No filter was used here. The ground is a stitch of 8 segments shot with the tracker motor off, then blended with a stitch of 20 segments for the sky, in 3 tiers of 8 + 6 + 6 segments, all with the Sigma 24mm lens at f/2.8 and for 1-minute with the Nikon D750 at ISO 1600 for all shots. Stitched with PTGui v12 which at last saves camera metadata when exporting PSD files. The original is 16,000 pixels square.
Late Winter/Early Spring Sky Panorama with Aurora
A 360° panorama of the late winter and early spring sky with an arc of aurora, from a latitude of 51° N. This was March 13, 2021, from home in southern Alberta. This night there was a bright aurora across the northern sky, so I have oriented the view to place due north just right of centre. The Big Dipper is at right; Leo is rising at far right. The bright winter stars around Orion are at far left to the south. High clouds and haze, partly lit by light pollution here, add the natural glows to the stars, emphasizing the bright stars and constellation patterns. No filter was used here. The yellow arch at left is a band of cloud illuminated by light pollution. This was a test of new panorama gear, using an Acratech Pan Head on top of a Alyn Wallace/MSM Z-Plate mounted to a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i tracker, to allow taking tracked segments for the panorama, to prevent star trailing. The Z-Plate allowed the Pan Head to mount and move horizontally and vertically in azimuth and altitude despite being on a polar aligned tracker. It worked! The ground is a stitch of 8 segments shot with the tracker motor off, then blended with a stitch of 20 segments for the sky, in 3 tiers of 8 + 6 + 6 segments, all with the Sigma 24mm lens at f/2.8 and for 1-minute with the Nikon D750 at ISO 1600 for all shots. Stitched with PTGui v12 which at last saves camera metadata when exporting PSD files. The original is 25,600 pixels wide.
Winter Sky Panorama — 360° Rectangular
A 360° panorama of the entire late winter/early spring sky from northern latitudes, with the winter Milky Way stretching across the sky, from south (at left) to north (at right). West is at centre. Orion and the northern winters stars are left of centre to the southwest. Just below the prominent Pleiades cluster at centre is Mars, then near the Pleiades in early March 2021. To the far left in the eastern sky the spring stars are rising. The Beehive star cluster stands out to the left of the Milky Way,. The Big Dipper is at upper right. Arcturus is rising at far right just above the horizon. Sirius is above the southern horizon left of centre. The faint glow of Gegenschein is at far left below Leo, opposite the Sun. I shot this from home on March 7, 2021 on a very clear night with no aurora to the north. This is from a latitude of 51° N. This is a stitch of 21 segments, in 3 tiers or rows of 7 segments each, with the Sigma 24mm Art lens at f/2 and Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 1600. Exposures were 30 seconds each, all untracked. The camera was moved automatically from frame to frame by placing it on the Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi motorized alt-azimuth mount, programmed with the hand controller from the old Sky-Watcher All-View mount. Stitching was with PTGui using equirectangular projection. The original is 28,000 by 8,000 pixels.
Winter Sky Panorama — 360° Spherical
A 360° panorama of the entire later winter/early spring sky from northern latitudes, with the winter Milky Way stretching across the sky, from south (at bottom) to north (at top). Orion and the northern winters stars are at bottom to the southwest. Just below the prominent Pleiades cluster at right is Mars. To the left in the eastern sky the spring stars are rising. I shot this from home on March 7, 2021 on a very clear night with no aurora to the north. South is at bottom; north is at top. East is to the left; west is to the right, toward the major source of light pollution. Polaris is at top centre; the Big Dipper is at upper left. Arcturus is rising at left. Sirius is at bottom, above the southern horizon. This is from a latitude of 51° N. This is a stitch of 21 segments, in 3 tiers or rows of 7 segments each, with the Sigma 24mm Art lens at f/2 and Canon EOS Ra camera at ISO 1600. Exposures were 30 seconds each, all untracked. The camera was moved automatically from frame to frame by placing it on the Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi motorized alt-azimuth mount, programmed with the hand controller from the old Sky-Watcher All-View mount. Stitching was with PTGui. The original is 17,000 by 17,000 pixels.
Orion, Sirius, and the winter stars over my home in southern Alberta, with a bright waxing Moon in Taurus. Taken February 19, 2021.
Orion, Sirius and the winter stars over my home in southern Alberta, with a bright waxing Moon in Taurus. Taken February 19, 2021.
Winter Sky Rising (January 2021)
This is a portrait of the winter sky rising in the southeast on January 9, 2021, taken from home in Alberta. The constellation of Orion is at centre with blue-white Sirius in Canis Major below and reddish-yellow Aldebaran in Taurus above. Castor and Pollux in Gemini are at left. Procyon in Canis Minor is between the Castor-Pollux pair and Sirius. Bright star clusters flank the scene, with the Pleiades (M45) at top and the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer at far left. Several other smaller star clusters in and along the Milky Way are also visible, even at this scale with an ultra-wide lens. This is a stack of 10 30-second tracked exposures with the 15mm Venus Optics Laowa lens at f/4 on the Sony a7III at ISO 6400. and taken as part of lens testing this night.
Winter Stars Rising at Dawn in August
The stars of the northern winter sky rising at dawn on the morning of August 14, 2020, from home in southern Alberta. The waning crescent Moon is overexposed here, shining above bright Venus , then in southern Gemini as a bright “morning star” in the east. Mars is also bright and reddish, to the south at upper right. Orion is rising over the ripening wheatfield at centre. Above Orion is Taurus with the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. The bright star to the left and above the Moon is Capella in Auriga. Castor and Pollux are rising at far left. This is a stack of 4 images for the ground to smooth noise and 1 image for the sky, all with the 14mm Sigma Art lens at f/2.5 and Nikon D750 at ISO 800 for 25 seconds each. I added a mild Orton Glow effect with Luminar Flex.
Orion and Venus at Dusk (March 25, 2020)
This is the evening sky on March 25, 2020, with brilliant Venus high in the west just after the date (March 24) of its greatest elongation in the evening sky for 2020. It appears here about as high as it can get with the ecliptic tipped up to a high angle in spring. To the left is Orion and the winter stars in the twilight. Just above the horizon at bottom right in the bright twilight is the day-old thin crescent Moon about to set. Above Venus are the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters. This is a single exposure with the Nikon D750 and 24mm Sigma lens, at 8 seconds at ISO 400 and f/2.8.
The Constellation of Orion with Dim Betelgeuse
A portrait of Orion and the northern winter Milky Way, on a February night, 2020. The Orion Nebula is the bright, overexposed pink glow below the Belt of Orion, while the curving arc of red is Barnard’s Loop, now thought to be a supernova remnant. The bright red glow at upper left is the Rosette Nebula. Red Betelgeuse was at its minimum then, at about the same brightness as Bellatrix to the right — Betelgeuse is usually about as bright as blue-white Rigel at lower right. However, Betelguese began to re-brighten in the nights after this. This is a stack of 8 x 2-minute exposures at ISO 800 with no filter and 6 x 3-minute exposures at ISO 1250 with a NISI Natural Night light pollution filter, all with the Sigma 50mm lens at f/3.2 and red-sensitive Canon EOS Ra camera on the iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracker. An additional exposure without the NISI but through a Kenko Softon A diffusion filter adds the star glows. Taken from home in Alberta on February 24, 2020.
Orion and the Winter Milky Way
Orion and the winter stars and Milky Way in a wide-angle scene sweeping up from the horizon to past the zenith. Sirius and Canis Major are at bottom left while Cassiopeia and Perseus are at upper right. Orion is below centre. At centre are the Taurus Dark Clouds and the constellations of Taurus and Auriga. Gemini is at left. The Winter Hexagon stars are all framed in this scene, and more! The glow of Zodiacal Light is at right. Betelgeuse was then at a record minimum brightness. This is a stack of 8 x 4-minute tracked exposures with the Canon 15mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8 and stock Canon 6D MkII camera at ISO 800, on the iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracker. Thus the blurry ground. Taken from home at latitude 51° N. on a perfect winter night, January 25, 2020.
Defocused Orion with Dim Betelgeuse
Orion, purposely shot out of focus to show the difference in star brightnesses better, in particular reddish Betelguese at upper centre, then at a record dim magnitude looking similar in brightness to magnitude 1.6 Bellatrix at right, and dimmer than Rigel at lower right which it usually rivals in brightness. This was January 25, 2020, taken with the Sigma 50mm lens for a stack of 4 x 1-minute exposures with the Canon 6D MkII on the iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracker. No filters were used here.
Orion with Dim Betelgeuse (Jan 25, 2020)
The constellation of Orion with red Betelgeuse then at a record dim magnitude looking similar in brightness to magnitude 1.6 Bellatrix at right, and much fainter than Rigel at lower right, which it usually rivals in brightness. This is a stack of 4 x 4-minute tracked exposures through the NISI Natural Night filtter with the Sigma 50mm lens at f/2.8 and stock (not modifed) Canon 6D MkII camera at ISO 800. A fifth exposure taken though the Kenko Softon filter adds the star glows. Taken from home in Alberta with the iOptron SkyGuider Pro tracker.