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Alberta & Saskatchewan Nightscapes { 850 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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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
Aurora from Home-April 14, 2021 Pano...jpg
Winter Sky 360° Panorama (Equirectan...jpg
Aurora from Home Panorama (Feb 28, 2...jpg
$The rising Full Moon of February 27, 2021, the "Snow Moon" of the year. The Moon was technically fullest earlier in the day, some 16 hours before I shot this, and so was slightly past full when it rose for me this evening in southern Alberta. This is a composite stack of 9 short exposures for the Moon, blended with a single longer exposure for the ground and sky taken at the start of the moonrise sequence. But using the same exposure for the moons as I used for the sky would have resulted in vastly overexposed moons. As it was, I adjusted the exposures for the Moon from 0.6 seconds for the first (lowest) Moon to 1/30 second for the last (highest) Moon, to keep the moons properly exposed through the sequence, as it brightened as it rose. But it remained very yellow throughout due to atmospheric absorption of the blue wavelengths. The background exposure for the ground and sky was 2.5 seconds. The sky was much darker than the Moon, because it rose nearly 45 minutes after sunset this night, so the sky had darkened quite a bit by moonrise. All shots were through a SharpStar 76mm EDPH apo refractor with the matching SharpStar 0.8x field flattener/reducer, for an effective focal length of 335mm at f/4.4. The camera was the Canon EOS Ra at ISO 100. I shot images every 5 seconds, for possible use in a time-lapse. But having images spaced that closely together in time made it possible to select images with the Moon's disk just nicely separated to be touching. While the Moon moves its own diameter every 2 minutes due to Earth's rotation, the effect of atmospheric refraction will make it appear to rise at a different rate when it is closer to the horizon than when it is higher. Having lots of frames to pick from made it possible to pick just the right ones for the correct spacing. As it was, the time between the frames used for this composite was about 2 minutes.$

Rising Full Snow Moon (Feb 27, 2021).jpg
Aurora from Home v2 (Feb 19, 2021).jpg
Aurora from Home v1 (Feb 19, 2021).jpg
Aurora Selfie v2 (Feb 19, 2021).jpg
Aurora Selfie v1 (Feb 19, 2021).jpg
Winter Sky over Home v2 (Feb 19, 202...jpg
Winter Sky over Home v1 (Feb 19, 202...jpg
Aurora from Home (Feb 1, 2021).jpg
Moonrise at Dino Park Composite (85m...jpg
Moonrise at Dinosaur Park Panorama (...jpg
Moonrise over Dinosaur Park.jpg
Cold Moon Rising over Dinosaur Park.jpg
Jupiter & Saturn over Bow River ...jpg
Jupiter & Saturn from Home (Dec ...jpg
Jupiter & Saturn over Badlands (...jpg
Jupiter & Saturn at Dino Park - ...jpg
Jupier, Saturn & Moon at Dino Pa...jpg
$Jupiter and Saturn nearing their December 21, 2020 Great Conjunction, with this image taken December 14, 2020 from home in southern Alberta. This is a blend of 5 untracked images for the dark ground and stacked to smooth noise, for 10 seconds each, plus a stack of 4 tracked images for the sky for 6 seconds each, all with the 85mm Rokinon lens at f/3.5 and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 400. The camera was on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker, only roughly polar aligned as Polaris was not readily visible amid clouds to the north and in the bright sky. Diffraction spikes added in Astronomy Tools actions. Taken well past traditional "blue hour" but when there was still a lot of colour in the sky to the camera, yet the sky was dark enough to show other stars.$

Jupiter & Saturn in Twilight #2 ...jpg
$Jupiter and Saturn nearing their December 21, 2020 Great Conjunction, with this image taken December 14, 2020 from home in southern Alberta. This is a panorama stitch of two images, each a blend of 4 untracked images for the dark ground and stacked to smooth noise, plus a stack of 4 tracked images for the sky, all with the 85mm Rokinon lens at f/3.5 and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 400. The camera was on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker, only roughly polar aligned as Polaris was not readily visible amid clouds to the north and in the bright sky. Diffraction spikes added in Astronomy Tools actions. Stitched in Photoshop with Photomerge. Taken well past traditional "blue hour" but when there was still a lot of colour in the sky to the camera, yet the sky was dark enough to show other stars.$

Jupiter & Saturn in Twilight Pan...jpg
$Jupiter and Saturn nearing their December 21, 2020 Great Conjunction, with this image taken December 14, 2020 from home in southern Alberta. This is a blend of 4 untracked images for the dark ground and stacked to smooth noise, for 4 seconds each, plus a stack of 4 tracked images for the sky for 2.5 seconds each, all with the 85mm Rokinon lens at f/3.5 and Canon EOS Ra at ISO 400. The camera was on the Star Adventurer 2i tracker, only roughly polar aligned as Polaris was not readily visible amid clouds to the north and in the bright sky. Diffraction spikes added in Astronomy Tools actions. Taken well past traditional "blue hour" but when there was still a lot of colour in the sky to the camera, yet the sky was dark enough to show other stars.$

Jupiter & Saturn in Twilight #1 ...jpg
Jupiter & Saturn in Red Deer Riv...jpg
Autumn Sky 360° Panorama (EquiRect).jpg
Full Moon and Mars Rising in Conjunc...jpg
$The Harvest Moon (the Full Moon of October 1, 2020) rising almost due east at the end of a country road in southern Alberta, near home. The horizon was smoky or dusty, so the Moon was very red as it rose, and looking almost like a totally eclipsed Moon. This is a blend of 6 exposures, all 1/2-second with the A&M 80mm f/6 apo refractor (for 480mm focal length) and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 400, taken as part of a 460-frame time-lapse sequence, with shots every 2 seconds. For this composite I choose 6 images at 2-minute intervals, so the Moon rose its own diameter between frames. The ground comes from the first image in the sequence when the lighting was brightest. The Moon rose at 7:35 pm this night, about 30 minutes after sunset. A mild Orton glow effect added to the ground with Luminar 4.$

Harvest Moonrise Composite (October ...jpg
$The rising of the nearly Full Moon, the Harvest Moon of 2020, on September 30, from a site near home in Alberta, looking just south of due east this night. Refraction distorts the disk and atmospheric absorption reddens the disk toward the horizon. This is a multiple exposure composite of 6 images with the Canon 6D MkII through the 80mm A&M apo refractor at f/6 without field flattener. Taken as part of a time-lapse sequence with images every 2 seconds. The frames for this blend were taken 2 minutes apart, so selected from every 60 frames out of the sequence. All were at 1/8 second at ISO 100. Images stacked in Photoshop and blended with Lighten mode. The ground comes from the first image.$

Harvest Moonrise Composite (Sept 30,...jpg
Aurora and Mars (Sept 25, 2020).jpg
Aurora from Home (Sept 25, 2020).jpg
Comet NEOWISE at Columbia Icefields ...jpg
Milky Way Over Mount Andromeda (20mm...jpg
Comet Over Columbia Icefields Panora...jpg
Alpenglow at Icefields with Quarter ...jpg
Milky Way Through Pine Trees.jpg
Milky Way at Howse Pass Viewpoint (3...jpg
Comet NEOWISE Over Mount Wilson (Jul...jpg
Comet NEOWISE at Saskatchewan River ...jpg
Comet NEOWISE with Big Dipper at Din...jpg
Comet NEOWISE in Twilight over Lake ...jpg
Comet NEOWISE over Canola Field Clos...jpg
Comet NEOWISE over Canola Field Wide...jpg
Comet NEOWISE over Canola Field (Jul...jpg
Comet NEOWISE Over Dinosaur Park (Ju...jpg
Comet NEOWISE Over Hoodoos (July 14,...jpg
Comet NEOWISE Over Light-Painted Hoo...jpg
Comet NEOWISE over Prince of Wales H...jpg
Comet NEOWISE and NLCs over Prince o...jpg
Milky Way and Planets at Waterton La...jpg
Comet NEOWISE and STEVE Aurora (July...jpg
Milky Way Over Maskinonge Pond (20mm...jpg
Comet NEOWISE and Aurora Panorama (J...jpg
Comet NEOWISE over Red Deer River (J...jpg
Comet NEOWISE over Red Deer River Pa...jpg