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My Latest { 75 images } Created 11 Jan 2013

This gallery presents a selection of my latest images, taken in the last few days and months, from home in Alberta, Canada and from other locations around the world. This gallery is presented in chronological order, with the newest images first.

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Success Selfie with Lunar Eclipse (J...jpg
Looking at the Lunar Eclipse - Binoc...jpg
Looking at the Lunar Eclipse - Naked...jpg
Eclipsed Moon And Umbral Shadow (Jan...jpg
Eclipsed Moon Beside the Beehive (Ja...jpg
NGC 2070 Tarantula Nebula (iTelescop...jpg
$The Owl Nebula, Messier 97, a planetary nebula in our galaxy, and the edge-on spiral galaxy Messier 108, paired in the same area of sky below the Bowl of the Big Dipper in Ursa Major. This is a stack of 5 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 1600 with the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera taken as part of testing, on January 14/15, 2019. This was through the Astro-Physics Traveler refractor at f/6 with the Hotech field flattener. No LENR or dark frames applied but it was about -10° C. Flat fielding supplied by lens correction in Camera Raw and by Gradient Xterminator filter in Photoshop.$

M97 and M108 in Ursa Major (105mm Z6...jpg
$The Orion Nebula, M42, with its companion nebula M43 to the north, and the blue Running Man Nebula at top (aka NGC 1975), all in a clear but moonlit sky, illuminated by a first quarter Moon, making the sky blue. So this can’t be a very deep image, but it shows the main features visible in a large telescope. The loose open cluster, NGC 1981, is at top — I should have framed this scene a little more north to better include the cluster. This is a blend, using luminosity masks, of three sets of exposures: 8 x 8 minutes for the main image content + 4 x 2 minutes for a mid-level exposure for the core area + 1 x 30-second for the Trapezium area right at the core. This sort of “high dynamic range” blending is necessary for M42 as it contains such a range of brightness that no single exposure can record it all. However, I did not use HDR methods to do the blending, but luminosity masks which are easy to make with one click in Photoshop — Command/Control click on the RGB Channel image — and they allow far greater control of the blending. This sort of exposure blending is needed because while your telescope-aided eye can see the faintest tendrils and the bright quadruple star system, the Trapezium, at the centre with no problem, cameras cannot. At least not in a single exposure. All were with the Astro-Physics Traveler apo refractor at f/6 with the Hotech field flattener and Nikon D750 (not modified) at ISO 200!$

Orion Nebula in Moonlight (105mm D75...jpg
$The Belt and Sword region of Orion, with the Orion Nebula, Messiers 42 and 43, at bottom. Below the left star of the Belt, Alnitak, is the famous Horsehead Nebula, while above it is NGC 2024, aka the Flame Nebula. At very top is Messier 78, while part of Barnard’s Loop arcs across the field down the left side. The field is filled with other faint red emission and blue reflection nebulas. The large loose open cluster Collinder 70 surrounds the middle star of the Belt, Alnilam. The field is similar to that of binoculars. This is a stack of 16 x 2- to 3-minute exposures with the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800 to 1250 and 200mm Canon L-Series lens at f/2.8. Taken with the Fornax Lightrack tracker as part of testing. Taken from home on January 8, 2019 during a clear couple of hours between haze patches, and while battling dying batteries for the drive and camera. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools. Images stacked with Median stack mode to eliminate satellite trails from geosats that populate this area of sky.$

Belt and Sword of Orion with Barnard...jpg
$The field of clusters and nebulosity in Gemini, with Messier 35 the main open star clusters here. Below M38 is NGC 2158. The nebulosity at left between Mu and Eta Geminorum is IC 443, a supernova remnant, aka the Jellyfish Nebula. The nebula at bottom is IC 2174, just over the border in Orion and aka the Monkeyhead Nebula. The field is similar to that of binoculars. This is a stack of 10 x 3-minute exposures with the filter-modified Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800 and 200mm Canon L-Series lens at f/2.8. Some light haze passing through in some exposures added the natural star glows. I left those in as part of the stack to add the glows. Taken with the Fornax Lightrack tracker as part of testing. Taken from home on a rare fine and mild winter night, January 4, 2019. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools.$

Gemini Clusters and Nebulas (200mm 5...jpg
$The field of clusters and nebulosity in Auriga, with — from left to right — Messier 37, Messier 36, and Messier 38, as the main open star clusters here. Below M38 is NGC 1907. The nebulosity at right is IC 410 and IC 405, the Flaming Star Nebula. In between them is the colourful asterism known as the Little Fish. Messier 38 is also known as the Starfish Cluster while Messier 36 is called the Pinwheel Cluster. The bright red nebula at top is Sharpless 2-235. The litttle nebulas at centre are NGC 1931 and IC 417. The field is similar to that of binoculars. This is a stack of 5 x 3-minute exposures with the Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800 and 200mm Canon L-Series lens at f/2.8. Taken with the Fornax Lightrack tracker as part of testing. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions. Taken from home on a rare fine and mild winter night, January 4, 2019.$

Auriga Clusters and Nebulas (200mm 5...jpg
Auroral Arc #3 (Jan 4, 2019).jpg
NGC 1499 California Nebula (200mm 5D...jpg
Auroral Arc #1 (Jan 4, 2019).jpg
$The Hyades star cluster, with bright yellow Aldebaran, in Taurus, with the smaller, more distant star cluster NGC 1647 at left. The field is similar to that of binoculars. This is a stack of 5 x 2-minute exposures with the Canon 5D MkII at ISO 800 and 200mm Canon L-Series lens at f/2.8. An additional exposure taken through the Kenko Softon A filter is layered in to add the star glows to bring out their colours. Taken with the Fornax Lightrack tracker as part of testing. Taken from home on a rare fine and mild winter night, January 4, 2019. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools actions for artistic effect.$

Hyades with NGC 1647 Cluster (200mm ...jpg
$The Full Moon rising on December 22, 2018, the day after the winter solstice, in a perfectly clear sky and over the distant horizon to the northeast over the snow-covered prairie. Some cows are grazing at left! The top edge of the Moon has a green rim and the bottom edge a red rim, from atmospheric refraction. But it made for a Christmas-coloured Moon ornament on the horizon! The dark lunar mare and even the bright rays splashing from Tycho at bottom are visible. This is a close up with the 105mm refractor, the Astro-Physics Traveler, at f/5.8 for a focal length of 609mm, and with the Canon 6D MkII at ISO 200, with the camera on auto exposure and taken as part of a 950-frame time-lapse sequence. This is a single exposure.$

Rising of the Solstice Full Moon (De...jpg
Tale of Three Comets.jpg
$Comet Wirtanen 46P on December 15, 2018 taken in the blue-sky moonlight, with the first quarter Moon still well up in the southwest, and when the comet was passing near the Pleiades star cluster, Messier 45, in Taurus. Some high cloud and haze was just beginning to move in, thwarting any further efforts to shoot the scene under darker skies later that night after moonset. The comet was nearest to Earth on this weekend, Dec 15-16, 2018. This is a stack of 2 x 90-second exposures aligned on the stars, and 2 x 30-second exposures aligned on the comet and blended in for the core of the comet coma to reduce its intensity and size. All with the 200mm Canon L lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 800. Lens focused with the Bhatinov mask. Diffraction spikes added with Astronomy Tools action, for photogenic effect. They look pretty!$

Comet Wirtanen 46P by Pleiades - Dec...jpg
Comet Wirtanen 46P with Taurus Dark ...jpg
Comet Wirtanen 46P with Taurus Clust...jpg
Geminids and Comet Wirtanen (Dec 12,...jpg
Comet Wirtanen 46P - Dec 12, 2018 (1...jpg
$The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train under the stars of winter, including Orion, Taurus and – just rising at lower left – Sirius in Canis Major. The train was stopped in Gleichen, Alberta, on December 7, 2018, at 10 p.m. for a half hour stop and musical show with Terri Clark (on stage here) and band. Hundreds of people attended. This was a challenge to shoot, to be sure, what with the town lights, the floodlights lighting the stage area, and the lights from the train itself, requiring exposures of a fraction of a second, while the stars needed several seconds. This is a blend of two exposures of 0.4 and 2 seconds, both at ISO 400 at f/2.8. And with the Sony a7III and Laowa 15mm lens. Layers blended with conventional masks. Plus for the long exposure I covered the lens with my hand to hide the lower area of the image to prevent the lights from glaring too much into the sky, but that helped only a bit. And I had fun applying Orton glow effects with ON1 and Luminar, to the ground and to the sky, plus using the Astronomy Tools actions to add the diffraction spikes on the stars and some of the train lights. A duplicated sky layer blended in with Linear Dodge punches up the stars and sky glows around them. So, yes, this all makes for a processed scene to be sure, but it’s Christmas! And the sky is real and has not been “cut and pasted” into the scene. The location of the sky at 10 pm was perfect for including the main winter stars above the westbound train.$

CP Holiday Train Stage and Orion.jpg
$The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train under the stars of winter, including Orion, Taurus and – just rising down the end of the tracks – Sirius in Canis Major. The train was stopped in Gleichen, Alberta, on December 7, 2018, at 10 p.m. for a half hour stop and musical show with Terri Clark and band. Hundreds of people attended, with the show going on down the train at the stage car. I’m standing near the front of the train to take in as much of its light display as possible, to contrast it with the stars overhead on this very clear December night. This was a challenge to shoot, to be sure, what with the town lights, the floodlights lighting the stage area, and the lights from the train itself, all requiring exposures of a fraction of a second, while the stars needed several seconds. This is an exposure blend of three exposures of 1/30, 1/8, and 3.2 seconds, all at ISO 800 but with the short exposures at f/5.6 and the long exposure at f/2.8. And with the Somny a7III and Laowa 15mm lens. Layers blended with conventional and luminosity masks. And I had fun applying Orton glow effects with ON1 and Luminar, to the ground and to the sky, plus using the Astronomy Tools actions to add the diffraction spikes on the stars and some of the train lights. This makes for a processed scene to be sure, but the sky is real and has not been “cut and pasted” into the scene. The placement of the stars at 10 pm was perfect for including the main winter stars down the end of the train. The sky and its orientation was real.$

CP Holiday Train with Orion.jpg
ISS Pass with David Saint-Jacques (D...jpg