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Alberta & Saskatchewan Nightscapes { 921 images } Created 2 Aug 2014

A collection of images of Alberta landscapes by night, taken by Alan Dyer
(amazingsky@icloud.com) over the last few years. The most recent images are first.

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Winter Moonrise over Badlands (R5 10...jpg
$The rising Full "Wolf" Moon of January 6, 2023 over the Badlands of Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, Alberta. The sequence demonstrates the changes in colour of the rising Moon from atmospheric absorption, and changes in its shape from atmospheric refraction. This night the Moon was full almost at the same time as it rose from my location. However, the Moon's high northerly declination — it was about 4° north of the ecliptic — meant that it rose far to the northeast and some 30 minutes before the Sun set, despite the Moon being opposite the Sun. As such, even for the last shot, with the Moon several Moon diameters in altitude, the Sun was still up and lighting the landscape. In fact, at that time the Sun broke through clouds in the southwest to light the foreground with warm light. In this blend, the ground and majority of the sky comes from the final image with the highest Moon and warmest landscape lighting. For the earlier shots the Moon came up in a very bright sky. And so, to better represent the scene, some of the sky coloration — the magentas and cyans — comes from earlier exposures blended in with broad-brush masks. Dark anti-crepuscular rays also added subtle sky colouration and bands of darker blue. This is a sequence of 9 images at an interval of 2.5 minutes, extracted from a set of 80 frames taken every 15 seconds with the camera on automatic exposure, as the sky and ground remained bright enough for an accurate meter reading. The first 8 Moons are masked and layered in with a Lighten blend mode. All images were the Canon R5 at ISO 125 and Canon RF100-400mm lens at 281mm and f/8. Most processing in Adobe Camera Raw with ground and sky masks. Glow and dynamic contrast filters added with ON1 Effects plug-in.$

Winter Moonrise Sequence (R5 RF100-4...jpg
Winter Moonrise in Crepuscular Rays ...jpg
$The red planet Mars in the winter sky lit by the waxing gibbous Moon, off frame at right. Mars is at centre, and nearly at its brightest for the year with it 4 days before its December 2022 opposition. It appears in Taurus, east of the Hyades and below the Pleiades, and above Orion. Sirius is rising at bottom just above the horizon. Procyon and Canis Minor is at lower left, with Castor and Pollux in Gemini above. At upper left is Capella in Auriga. The stars of Perseus at at top. Taken from home in Alberta, December 3, 2022, with the old rake as a foreground object. This is a stack of 4 images for the ground to reduce noise blended with one exposure for the sky, all 13 seconds at f/4 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 16mm, on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. All untracked on a fixed tripod. Diffraction spikes added for artistic effect with Astronomy Tools actions.$

Mars in the Winter Sky (Dec 3, 2022).jpg
Lake Louise by Night.jpg
Milky Way Over Lake Louise.jpg
Autumn Stars Rising at Lake Edith.jpg
$The constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, and the asterism of the Big Dipper low in the north over Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, on a clear autumn night. Arcturus is at left setting over Pyramid Mountain. Bands of airglow tint the sky, but also unfortunately, so does light pollution from the Park's service areas to the north of the townsite. This is a blend of a single tracked 2-minute exposure for the sky and water with the reflected stars, with a single untracked 4-minute exposure for the rest of the ground, both at f/2.8 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 17mm and Canon R5 at ISO 800. I shot this October 16, 2022. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo. Diffraction spikes on stars added with Astronomy Tools actions.$

Ursa Major over Lake Edith.jpg
Northern Sky Over Lake Edith.jpg
Milky Way Over the Athabasca River P...jpg
Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain.jpg
Milky Way over Pyramid Lake.jpg
Mount Cephren by Moonlight.jpg
Peyto Lake at Night Panorama.jpg
Ursa Major over Peyto Lake in Twilig...jpg
Reflected Moonrise at Crawling Lake ...jpg
Reflected Moonrise at Crawling Lake ...jpg
Hunter's Moonrise (Oct 8, 2022).jpg
Milky Way from Backyard (Sept 17, 20...jpg
Milky Way over Star Party.jpg
Arcturus and Big Dipper at Cypress H...jpg
Moonrise and the Northern Stars at D...jpg
Summer Milky Way Vertical Panorama (...jpg
$The Full Moon rise of August 11, 2022 over the old grain elevator on Highway 10 at Dorothy, Alberta, in the Badlands of the Red Deer River valley. This was dubbed a "supermoon" and the "Sturgeon Moon" in the popular media. It just happened to rise at a location that placed it right down the south-east facing highway in the valley. I used The Photographer's Ephemeris to locate the spot to get the shot! This is a blend of two exposures: 6-second exposure for the ground and 1/4-second for the Moon, taken moments apart and both with the Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the William Optics 66mm f/7 apo refractor for a focal length of 460mm. I added a mild Orton glow effect to the ground with Luminar AI. Dodging and burning added with a neutral grey layer created with Lumenzia.$

Full Moonrise at Dorothy v2 (Aug 11,...jpg
$The Full Moon rise of August 11, 2022 over the old grain elevator on Highway 10 at Dorothy, Alberta, in the Badlands of the Red Deer River valley. This was dubbed a "supermoon" and the "Sturgeon Moon" in the popular media. It just happened to rise at a location that placed it right down the south-east facing highway in the valley. I used The Photographer's Ephemeris app to locate the spot to get the shot! This is a single 1.6-second exposure with the Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the William Optics 66mm f/7 apo refractor for a focal length of 460mm. However, an unending stream of cars coming down the hill and then toward me as the Moon rose made it impossible to get a shot free of headlights. And yet, in the 20 minutes prior waiting for the Moon to rise, not a car was to be seen. I added a mild Orton glow effect to the ground with Luminar AI. Dodging and burning added with a neutral grey layer created with Lumenzia.$

Full Moonrise at Dorothy v1 (Aug 11,...jpg
Auroral Arc Panorama (Aug 7, 2022).jpg
NLCs over Canola Field - Later Panor...jpg
NLCs over Canola Field - Early Panor...jpg
Badlands by Super Moonlight (July 12...jpg
Autumn Constellations over Moonlit B...jpg
ISS over Hoodoos at Dino Park.jpg
Super Moonrise in Earth's Shadow Arc.jpg
Super Moonrise Over Badlands.jpg
Jupiter Rising Down the Road.jpg
Aurora in Moonlight at Lone Tree Hil...jpg
Auroral Arc in Moonlight and Twiligh...jpg
NLCs over Canola Field (July 10, 202...jpg
NLCs over Hill and Road (July 10, 20...jpg
Autumn Constellations over Moonlit H...jpg
Big Dipper over Moonlit Hoodoos.jpg
Andromeda Galaxy over Moonlit Hoodoo...jpg
Andromeda Rising over Moonlit Hoodoo...jpg
Andromeda Rising at Dinosaur Park.jpg
Scorpius and Sagittarius at Dinosaur...jpg
Crescent Moon Setting at Dinosaur Pa...jpg
Crescent Moon over Red Deer River.jpg
Aurora & STEVE Panorama (May 27,...jpg
Milky Way over the Hoodoos.jpg
Twilight Panorama over Red Deer Rive...jpg
Lunar Eclipse #3 - Near Totality (Ma...jpg
Lunar Eclipse #2 - Deep Partial (May...jpg
Lunar Eclipse Panorama (May 15, 2022...jpg
Lunar Eclipse #1 - Moonrise in Parti...jpg
Rising Moon at Equinox (March 18, 20...jpg
Rising Cold Winter Moon v2 (Dec 19, ...jpg
Rising Cold Winter Moon v1 (Dec 19, ...jpg
$Venus in the evening twilight on December 17, 2021, about 2 weeks after its point of greatest brilliancy. This was shot in hope of also catching Comet Leonard, but it showed up as only a dim smudge hard to distinguish from the background sky, and is behind thin cloud here. Shot from near home in southern Alberta. Foreground illumination is from the gibbous Moon to the northeast opposite this scene which looks southwest. A single 4s shot with the 135mm Canon telephoto at f/2.8 on the Canon R6 at ISO 400, and with the air at -20° C with a bitter wind! Diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions.$

Venus in Twilight (Dec 17, 2021).jpg
$The line-up of three evening planets in the southwest twilight sky, on December 17, 2021 — with Jupiter at top left, Venus at bottom right, and dimmer Saturn in the middle, all defining the line of the ecliptic in the cold winter sky this night. The stars of Capricornus are at centre. The foreground is lit by moonlight from the waxing gibbous Moon in the northeast, opposite this scene which looks southwest. A single 8s exposure with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 39mm, and Canon Ra at ISO 200. Shot in hope of also catching Comet Leonard below Venus but no luck! It was too faint and lost in the wispy clouds. V1 of this image was shot 10 minutes earlier with brighter twilight colors but fewer stars and a darker foreground. Diffraction spikes added with AstronomyTools actions.$

Planet Line-Up in Twilight v2 (Dec 1...jpg
Planet Line-Up in Twilight v1 (Dec 1...jpg
Milky Way in Moonlight at Elbow Fall...jpg
Milky Way at Elbow Falls (Sept 26, 2...jpg
Equinox Moonrise (Sept 21, 2021).jpg
Equinox Sunset (Sept 21, 2021).jpg
$A telescopic close-up of the full Harvest Moon rising over the Badlands of Dinosaur Provincial Park on September 20, 2021. This is a single 0.8-second exposure taken as part of a time-lapse sequence, shot through a 76mm f/4.4 refractor telescope for an effective focal length of 335mm using the Canon R6 at ISO 100. Luminosity masks created with TKActions v8 applied to enhance the contrast of the foreground. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar AI.$

Harvest Moon at Dinosaur Park (SS76 ...jpg
Harvest Moonrise over Badlands (105m...jpg
Jupiter & Saturn over Hoodoo (Au...jpg
Moonrise at Dinosaur Park.jpg
Summer Stars at Fossil Hunters Trail.jpg
Aurora from Dinosaur Park (Aug 29, 2...jpg
Big Dipper over Hoodoo.jpg
Planets Rising in Badlands Twilight.jpg
Aurora from Home (Aug 24, 2021).jpg
Perseids 2021 (Untracked R6 11mm).jpg
Perseids 2021 (Tracked 6D 14mm).jpg
Smoky Sunset over Bow Valley (July 1...jpg
Smoky Moon over Bow Valley (July 14,...jpg
Smoky Sunset Panorama over Bow Valle...jpg
Sunset at Vermilion Lakes (July 14, ...jpg
Milky Way over Blakiston Creek (July...jpg
Milky Way at Driftwood Beach (July 1...jpg
Milky Way over Upper Waterton Lake (...jpg
Venus, Mars and the Moon (July 11, 2...jpg
Summer Milky Way at Dinosaur Park.jpg
Waterton Shorefront Panorama (June 3...jpg
Milky Way over Cameron Lake (June 2,...jpg
Scorpius over Mount Custer (85mm EOS...jpg
Milky Way over Waterton Townsite (Na...jpg
Milky Way over Waterton Townsite.jpg
Milky Way over Maskinonge Pond.jpg
Galactic Centre over Sofa Mountain.jpg
Dust and Star Clouds over Sofa Mount...jpg
Milky Way over Dinosaur Park Panoram...jpg
Milky Way over Dinosaur Park Panoram...jpg
Cygnus Above Badlands Formations.jpg
Waxing Moon and Winter Stars at Dino...jpg
Dinosaur Park Panorama (EOS Ra with ...jpg
Cassiopeia & Perseus at Dino Par...jpg
Spica and Corvus at Dino Park (24mm ...jpg
Winter Sky Setting at Dino Park (Apr...jpg
Aurora from Home-April 14, 2021 Pano...jpg