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The Milky Way, Morning Zodiacal Light, and a SAR Arc
Milky Way, Zodiacal Light and SAR Arc.jpg
A convergence of several bands of light in the dawn sky on October 11, 2024, over Arizona and New Mexico, at a latitude of 32° N.
– A pinkish SAR (Stable Auroral Red) arc from the massive Kp8 geomagnetic storm that night, high (~400km) up in our atmosphere. SARs are not auroras per se but are horizontally flowing currents generated by the intense magnetic storms that also create auroras.
– A bluish-white pyramid of light rising up from the eastern sunrise point, the Zodiacal Light, from sunlight reflecting off dust in the inner solar system (so not in our atmosphere). Leo is rising amid the Zodiacal Light.
– And the winter Milky Way at right through Canis Major and Puppis. Sirius is the bright star at upper right.
– Mysteriously, there is also a subtle streak to the right of the Zodiacal Light that is in the right location and angle to be the long dust tail of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3). But it is mixed in with some other airglow tints or what might be aurora fragments, so is hard to say if this is the tail of the comet. Maybe!
Technical:
This is a stack of 4 x 1 minute exposures with the RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 1600. It was tracking the sky on the MSM Nomad tracker, thus the blurred ground. Taken October 11, 2024 at about 6 am MDT (5 am MST Arizona time), from the Quailway Cottage between Rodeo, New Mexico and Portal, Arizona. This is looking east toward New Mexico.
– A pinkish SAR (Stable Auroral Red) arc from the massive Kp8 geomagnetic storm that night, high (~400km) up in our atmosphere. SARs are not auroras per se but are horizontally flowing currents generated by the intense magnetic storms that also create auroras.
– A bluish-white pyramid of light rising up from the eastern sunrise point, the Zodiacal Light, from sunlight reflecting off dust in the inner solar system (so not in our atmosphere). Leo is rising amid the Zodiacal Light.
– And the winter Milky Way at right through Canis Major and Puppis. Sirius is the bright star at upper right.
– Mysteriously, there is also a subtle streak to the right of the Zodiacal Light that is in the right location and angle to be the long dust tail of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3). But it is mixed in with some other airglow tints or what might be aurora fragments, so is hard to say if this is the tail of the comet. Maybe!
Technical:
This is a stack of 4 x 1 minute exposures with the RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 1600. It was tracking the sky on the MSM Nomad tracker, thus the blurred ground. Taken October 11, 2024 at about 6 am MDT (5 am MST Arizona time), from the Quailway Cottage between Rodeo, New Mexico and Portal, Arizona. This is looking east toward New Mexico.
- Copyright
- © Alan Dyer/AmazingSky.com
- Image Size
- 8192x5464 / 27.3MB
- www.amazingsky.com
