A busy evening sky, with the two brightest planets, Venus (below) and Jupiter (above) shining in the western twilight, while the Space Station flies up from the west from botton to top, and a bright Iridium satellite flares across the frame at top. The Iridium flare appears through the Sickle of Leo, with the star Regulus below. This is a stack of 28 images taken as part of a time-lapse sequence, at a large interval to accommodate longer exposures later in the night, thus th elarge gaps in the satellite trails. The background sky (stars and planets) comes only from one frame to keep the stars and planets as pinpoints and not trailed. The ground comes from 8 of the frames, mean combined as a stack to smooth noise. Taken June 7, 2015 from southern Alberta, with the Nikon D750 and Sigma 24mm Art lens, at ISO 1600 and f/2.8 for 2.5 seconds each.
The constellation of Cassiopeia (the W at right) behind the old Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Dalum, south of Drumheller, Alberta. It was built in 1929 by the Danish settlers in the area, using traditional Danish architechtural styles. I shot this May 2, 2015 on the night before Full Moon which provides most of the illiumination. Streetlights added yellow tints but I minimized those in processing. This is a single 30-second exposure at ISO 400 with the Canon 6D and f/5.6 with the 35mm lens.
Venus, very bright as an evening star, shines over the old historic Atlas Coal Mine in the Red Deer River Valley, Alberta, near East Coulee. The mine buildings are the last standing from many coal mines that operated in the valley up until the 1970s. The Atlas Coal Mine is now a museum and National Historic Site. Mercury shines at right just above the horizon. The nearly Full Moon provides much of the illumination, though a sodium vapour light also provides some of the warm light to the foreground.
