Jupiter and Saturn nearing their December 21, 2020 Great Conjunction, with this image taken in the deep twilight on December 3, 2020 from the Allen Bill flats area on the Elbow River in the Kananaskis Country southwest of Calgary, Alberta. This is a blend of 4 untracked images for the dark ground, stacked to smooth noise, for 2 minutes each at ISO 400, and two tracked images for the sky (and untrailed stars) for 30 seconds each at ISO 400, all with the 35mm Canon lens at f/2.8 and Canon EOS Ra. A dodge and burn layer created by Lumenzia applied. The tracker was the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i.
Jupiter and Saturn nearing their Dec 21, 2020 Great Conjunction, with this image taken December 3, 2020 from the Elbow Falls area on the Elbow River in the Kananaskis Country southwest of Calgary. This is a blend of 4 untracked images for the dark ground, stacked to smooth noise, for 30 seconds each, and one untracked image for the bright sky for 15 seconds to preserve colours and highlights, all with the 24mm Sigma lens and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 200. A dodge and burn layer created by Lumenzia applied. The location was planned with The Photographer’s Ephemeris and TPE 3D apps, to ensure the planets would be visible between the mountain peaks from this site.
Mars at its closest approach to Earth for another 15 years, on October 5, 2020, with autumn aspens. Taken from home with the waning Moon off camera providing the illumination. This is a stack of 8 median-combined images for the ground to smooth noise and one exposure for the sky. All 15 seconds at ISO 2500 and f/4 with the Sigma 24mm Art lens and Nikon D750. SharpenAI applied to the ground; DeNoiseAI applied to the sky. Diffraction spikes on Mars added with Astronomy Tools Actions. A mild Orton Glow effect added with Luminar 4.
