A composite image depicting the path and position of the low waxing crescent Moon of autumn across the southwest evening sky over five nights, Sept 30 to Oct 4, 2019. The ecliptic — the blue line — is always low in the sky at this time of year, placing the Moon and planets low as well in the evening twilight. This was shot from my home in southern Alberta at latitude 50° N. Earthshine is just visible on the dark side of the Moon in the later images. The base panorama image of the sky and landscape is from Oct 1, which also provides the Moon image second from the right. The Sept 30 (farthest to the right), plus Oct 2, Oct 3 and Oct 4 moons (to the left, from R to L) are added in with separate exposures taken from exactly the same spot and with the same camera and lens on the other nights, with those images layered and masked into the Oct 1 sky. The Moon positions are close to the actual positions relative to the horizon and to Jupiter, bright at left. The ecliptic line looks straight but is actually a shallow curving arc. The ecliptic line is correctly placed below the Moon, as the Moon’s path does not coincide with the ecliptic but is tilted 5° to the ecliptic and it was above the ecliptic on most of these nights, but approached and crossed the ecliptic on Oct. 4. Jupiter, however, is on the ecliptic. Antares and the stars of Scorpius are also visible in the deep twilight. The base image is cropped from a panorama of 5 images stitched with Adobe Camera Raw. All with the Canon EOS R and 35mm Canon L lens. While this was taken in early October the field has snow from an unseasonably early snowfall and winter storm which didn’t clear until Sept 30, preventing me from getting the Sept 29 Moon very close to the Sun.
A 240° panorama of the Northern Lights from the Boardwalk in the urban Rotary Park in Yellowknife, NWT, on Sept 10, 2019. A waxing gibbous Moon is bright to the south and lights the sky and landscape. Despite the moonlight and city lights the aurora still shines brightly though this was not a brilliant display this night. Kp Index was only 1 or 2. The aurora sweeps across the sky from east to west here, passing high across the south and framing the Moon. The Big Dipper is at far right; the Pleiades are rising at far left. Andromeda is at top left. This is a 7-segment panorama, each segment 8 seconds at f/2 with the Venus Optics 15mm lens and Sony a7III at ISO 1600, Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.
Orion and the winter stars, at right, rising into the dawn sky on an August morning at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, August 26, 2019. The waning crescent Moon is bright in the clouds at centre. The Big Dipper is at far left. Procyon is in the twilight. Gemini is to the left of the Moon. 70 Mile Butte is in silhouette on the horizon at centre. Taken from the Two Trees Road. This is a 5-segment panorama with the 24mm Sigma Art lens and Nikon D750. Stitched with ACR.
