Amazing Sky by Alan Dyer

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My Latest { 73 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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  • Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on the night of January 24, 2023. This was the night Earth crossed the plane of the comet's orbit. The dust tail of the comet showed a slight anti-tail spike ahead of the comet's greenish coma, but not as prominently as it had appeared two nights earlier. What was much more visible this night (at least to the camera) was the long thin and bluish ion tail stretching directly back from the comet away from the Sun. The coma of the comet is strongly cyan or green from glowing diatomic carbon molecules, common for comets. <br />
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The comet was discovered in March 2022 at the Zwicky Transient Facility telescope, thus the ZTF name. <br />
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This is a stack of 4 x 1-minute exposures through the William Optics 51mm RedCat astrograph at f/4.9 (so 250mm focal length) and with the stock Canon R5 camera at ISO 3200. The mount was guided on the stars — in stacking just 4 exposures taken over 4 minutes the comet didn't move enough to significantly blur details at this short focal length. I made no attempt to separately align the comet and the stars. <br />
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The field is 8° by 5.5°, so similar to a binocular field of view. The comet was easy to see in binoculars as a grey glow, and it was barely naked eye but only if you knew exactly where to look.
    Comet C2022 E3 (ZTF) (Jan 24, 2023).jpg
  • Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) here as a small green fuzzy star between the Big and Little Dippers on January 24, 2023. Polaris is in the top left corner. The comet was easy in binoculars but barely naked eye. And only the camera picks up its green colour. The short tail, just visible here, showed up visually in large 70mm binoculars <br />
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This is a single 15-second untracked exposure with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and f/2 on the Canon Ra at ISO 3200. Noise reduction with Noise XTerminator. Taken from home in southern Alberta, latitude 51° N.
    Comet ZTF and the Dippers (28-70mm R...jpg
  • A widefield view of Orion's Belt and Sword showing the complex of nebulosity in the area. The three Belt stars are at top (L to R): Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, with the dark Horsehead Nebula (B33) below Alnitak. Above Alnitak is the pinkish Flame Nebula, NGC 2024. At bottom are Messiers 42 and 43, making up the Orion Nebula, with the bluish Running Man Nebula above it, aka NGC 1973-5-7. Above it is the star cluster NGC 1981. Messier 78 is just on frame at upper left. Numerous other bits of emission and reflection nebulas populate the field amid a backdrop of faint emission nebulosity. The stars around the Belt belong to the large star cluster Collinder 70.  This is a blend of two stacks of images: 15 x 8 minutes through an IDAS NBX dual narrowband filter to bring out the faint nebulosity, and 15 x 4-minutes with no filter for the more natural star colours and colours of the Orion, Flame and Horsehead (IC 434) Nebulas. So a total of 3 hours of exposure time. I did not take shorter exposures for the Orion Nebula core.   All were with the William Optics RedCat 51mm astrograph at f/4.9 and filter-modified (by AstroGear) Canon EOS R at ISO 3200 for the filtered shots and ISO 800 for the unfiltered shots. Taken from home January 22, 2023 on a rare clear winter night. Autoguided and dithered with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider. No darks or LENR employed.   All stacking, alignment and masking in Photoshop. Luminosity masks with Lumenzia helped bring out the nebulosity, as did a mild application of the Nebula FIlter action in the PhotoKemi StarTools Actions set. Noise reduction with RC-Astro Noise XTerminator. The filtered set has had all the stars removed using RC-Astro Star XTerminator, so it contributed just the nebulosity, Stars come from the unfiltered set for tighter stars with more natural colours.
    Orion's Belt and Sword (WO51mm RMod).jpg
  • Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) on the night of January 22/23, 2023 when it was in Draco, with it near the reddish star Edasich (aka Iota Draconis) at top, and the edge-on galaxy NGC 5907 below the comet. To the right of that galaxy is NGC 5866, aka M102. The dust tail of the comet was showing a strong anti-tail spike ahead of the comet's greenish coma, as this was two days before we crossed the plane of the comet's orbit when we would see its dust tail "edge-on." The coma of the comet is strongly cyan or green from glowing diatomic carbon molecules, common for comets. There was little sign of the blue ion tail in my exposures this night.<br />
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The comet was discovered in March 2022 at the Zwicky Transient Facility telescope, thus the ZTF name. <br />
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This is a stack of 4 x 2-minute exposures through the William Optics 51mm RedCat astrograph at f/4.9 (so 250mm focal length) and with the filter-modified Canon R camera at ISO 1600. The mount was guided on the stars — in stacking just 4 exposures taken over 8 minutes the comet didn't move enough to significantly blur details at this short focal length. The field is 8° by 5.5°, so similar to a binocular field of view. The comet was easy to see in binoculars as a grey glow, and it was barely naked eye but only if you knew exactly where to look.
    Comet C2022 E3 (ZTF) (Jan 22, 2023).jpg
  • Venus in a close conjunction with dimmer Saturn in the evening twilight on January 22, 2023. They were 22 arc minutes apart this evening. The 1-day-old waxing crescent Moon is below the planet pair deep in the twilight. The magnitude 2.8 star Deneb Algiedi, aka Delta Capricorni, is faintly visible below Venus. Venus was magnitude -3.9 while Saturn was magnitude 0.8. <br />
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This is a single 1-second exposure with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 124mm and at f/5.6, on the Canon R5 at ISO 100. Taken from home in southern Alberta. Most processing done in Adobe Camera Raw with the aid of AI Sky and Inverted Sky masks. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo. Noise reduction with ON1 NoNoise AI 2023. There is a portrait orientation version of this as well.
    Moon, Venus & Saturn - Landscape...jpg
  • Venus below dimmer Saturn in the evening twilight on January 21, 2023, the evening before their close conjuncton. The magnitude 2.8 star Deneb Algiedi, aka Delta Capricorni, is below and to the left of Venus. Venus was magnitude -3.9 while Saturn was magnitude 0.8. <br />
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This is a single 0.8-second exposure with the Canon RF70-200mm lens at 103mn and at f/4, on the Canon R5 at ISO 400. Taken from home in southern Alberta. Most processing done in Adobe Camera Raw with the aid of AI Sky and Inverted Sky masks. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar Neo. Noise reduction with ON1 NoNoise AI 2023.
    Venus & Saturn (Jan 21, 2023).jpg
  • Mars, the bright orange object right of centre, is here amid the stars and constellations of the winter Milky Way in January 2023. Mars is in Taurus, above Aldebaran and the Hyades, and below the blue Pleiades. The stars of Auriga are at left. At top are stars in Perseus, including the reddish California Nebula. The interstellar Dark Clouds of Taurus are at centre.<br />
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This is a stack of 7 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 40mm, on the stock Canon R5 at ISO 800. A single exposure through a Kase/Alyn Wallace Starglow filter blended in added the star glows. The main images were also shot through an URTH light pollution reduction filter. Taken from home January 10, 2023. There's another version of this shot at 35mm for a little wider framing of Auriga and Taurus.
    Mars in Milky Way (28-70mm at 40mm R...jpg
  • Mars, the bright orange object right of centre, is here amid the stars and constellations of the winter Milky Way in January 2023. Mars is in Taurus, above Aldebaran and the Hyades, and below the blue Pleiades. The stars of Auriga are at left. At top are stars in Perseus, including the reddish California Nebula. The interstellar Dark Clouds of Taurus are at centre.<br />
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This is a stack of 7 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 35mm, on the stock Canon R5 at ISO 800. A single exposure through a Kase/Alyn Wallace Starglow filter blended in added the star glows. The main images were also shot through an URTH light pollution reduction filter. Taken from home January 10, 2023. There's another version of this shot at 40mm for a little closer crop in on Auriga and Taurus.
    Mars in Milky Way (28-70mm at 35mm R...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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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. <br />
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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. <br />
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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
  • The rising Full Moon of January 6, 2023 over the Badlands of Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, Alberta. Here the Moon is set in the pink Belt of Venus and with dark blue crepuscular rays (or more correctly, anti-crepuscular rays) converging on the point directly opposite the Sun. The rays are shadows cast by clouds in the west, which parted enough for a few moments for the setting Sun to light the foreground, making for a colourful contrast between ground and sky. <br />
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This night — and this year — the winter Full Moon (popularly called the Wolf Moon) was at a particularly high declination north of the ecliptic, about 4° above the ecliptic. So it rose more to the north than it normally would. This geometry is evident here in that the Moon lies well above (north of) the point where the shadows are converging to, which would be the position of the anti-Sun point on the ecliptic. This was the night of the Full Moon — in fact, the time of Full Moon almost exactly coincided with moonrise for me. However, the high declination of the Moon meant it rose about 30 minutes before sunset, so it rose into quite a bright sky, and was well up by the time the sky darkened enough to show these twilight colours. The next night the Moon, now a day past full, rose 30 minutes after sunset into a much darker sky. <br />
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This is a single exposure with the Canon Ra and Canon RF70-200mm lens at 94mm. The red-sensitive Ra helps bring out the Belt of Venus colours. Most processing in Adobe Camera Raw with ground and sky masks. A mild glow layer added in Photoshop with the Radiant Photo plug-in.
    Winter Moonrise in Crepuscular Rays ...jpg
  • The rising Full Moon of January 6, 2023 over the Badlands of Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, Alberta. Here the Moon is set a dark blue crepuscular ray (or more correctly, anti-crepuscular ray) converging on the point directly opposite the Sun. The ray was a shadow cast by clouds in the west, which parted enough for a few moments for the setting Sun to light the foreground, making for a colourful contrast between ground and sky. <br />
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This is a single exposure with the Canon R5 and Canon RF100-400mm lens at 236mm. Most processing in Adobe Camera Raw with ground and sky masks. A mild glow layer added to the ground in Photoshop with Luminar Neo.
    Winter Moonrise over Badlands (R5 10...jpg
  • This is the waxing gibbous Moon (11.7 days old) near reddish Mars (above the Moon), and with reddish Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster below. All are set in a swirl of clouds, looking like they are in an interstellar nebula. Diffraction from ice crystals in the clouds adds the colourful corona around the Moon. This was the Moon-Mars conjunction of January 3, 2023. Mars was then about a month past opposition. <br />
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This is a blend of 8 exposures, from 8 seconds to 1/500th second, to compress the high dynamic range in brightness and recreate the view more as the eye saw it. Exposures blended with luminosity masks created with Lumenzia. All frames were with the Canon RF100-400mm lens at 100mm and f/5.6, and on the Canon R5 at ISO 400. The camera was on a tracking mount to prevent the stars from trailing. Diffraction spikes added for artistic effect with AstronomyTools Actions. A mild Orton Glow added with Nik Collection/Color EFX.
    Moon, Mars and Hyades (Jan 3, 2023).jpg
  • This is the waxing gibbous Moon (11.7 days old) near reddish Mars (at upper right), both set in a swirl of clouds, looking like they are in an interstellar nebula. Diffraction from ice crystals in the clouds adds the colourful corona around the Moon. This was the Moon-Mars conjunction of January 3, 2023. Mars was then about a month past opposition. <br />
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This is a blend of 6 exposures, from 5 seconds to 1/200th second, to compress the high dynamic range in brightness and recreate the view more as the eye saw it. Exposures blended with luminosity masks. All were with the Canon RF100-400mm lens at 300mm and f/8, and on the Canon R5 at ISO 400. The camera was on a tracking mount to prevent the stars from trailing. Diffraction spikes on Mars added for artistic effect with AstronomyTools Actions. A mild Orton Glow added with Luminar Neo.
    Moon and Mars (Jan 3, 2023).jpg
  • Comet 2022 E3 (ZTF) at top, as the green fuzzy star above the semi-circle of stars marking the constellation of Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown. The comet was approaching the Sun and Earth at this time (January 3, 2023) and was brightening, but even here was visible in binoculars and sporting a short dust tail and cyan-colored coma. ZTF = Zwicky Transient Facility, the telescope used to discover the comet in early 2022. <br />
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The bright star at bottom is Alphecca, or Alpha Coronae Borealis. <br />
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The field of view is 15° by 10°, so larger than a binocular field. <br />
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This is a stack of 8 x 1-minute exposures with the Canon EF 135mm lens at f/2.8 on the Canon Ra at ISO 1600, all on the Star Adventurer 2I tracker. Shot from home just after 6 am on January 3 during a brief hour of darkness between moonset and the onset of dawn twilight. Star glows added in post with the Luminar Neo Magic Light AI filter.
    Comet 2022 E3 ZTF in Corona Borealis.jpg
  • The first quarter Moon near the planet Jupiter (at right) amid a hazy sky adding a colourful diffraction effect around the Moon — a lunar "corona." <br />
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This is a blend of 6 exposures, from 8 seconds to 1/125th second, two stops apart, all at f/7.1 with the Canon RF100-400mm lens at 174mm and Canon R5 at ISO 400. Blended with luminosity masks to retain details on the disk of the Moon but with it set in the bright halo and moonlit sky. Jupiter at right mostly comes from the 2-second exposure, to minimize its trailing in this set of untracked camera-on-tripod exposures. The background sky and trailed stars come from the longest exposure. <br />
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This was partly a test of this new lens as it was used here straight out of the box for the first time on this scene.
    Quarter Moon & Jupiter (Dec 29, ...jpg
  • The waxing crescent Moon above the pairing of Mercury (highest) and Venus (lowest) at lower right in the evening twilight on Christmas Day, 2022. <br />
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This night, and this Christmas week in 2022, all the naked eye planets were visible across the evening sky, but Mercury and Venus disappeared into the horizon clouds this evening before the sky darkened enough to shoot a panoroma of the scene, to catch dimmer Saturn in the southeast, plus Jupiter to the south and Mars to the east. <br />
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This is a single exposure with the Canon R5 at ISO 100 and RF28-70mm lens at 70mm and f/4 for 0.3 sec.
    Moon with Venus & Mercury at Chr...jpg
  • The Geminid meteor shower of 2022, showing two bright Geminids leaving yellowish ion trails or "smoke" trains in their wake. The two meteors appeared about 45 minutes apart but are blended together here. <br />
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Both emanate from the radiant point in Gemini at left, above the stars Castor and Pollux. Orion is at lower right. Mars in Taurus is at top, to the left of Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster. The Beehive star cluster, M44, is in the lower left corner. <br />
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I shot the images for this composite from home in Alberta on December 14, 2022, the night after the peak night, which of course was cloudy. <br />
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This is a stack of 20 images of 500 shot that night — the two frames containing the meteors, plus a total of 18 other frames immediately following the meteor frames that contained the lingering ion trails that each lasted about 5 minutes. All frames were 30 second exposures at f/2 with the Canon RF28-70mm lens and Canon R5 at ISO 800, with the camera on a tracking mount.
    Two Geminids with Smoke Trains (Dec ...jpg
  • The Local Group spiral galaxy, Messier 33 in Triangulum, with some of its star forming nebulas showing up as green-blue Oxygen III regions in its spiral arms. <br />
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This is a stack of 30 x 6-minute exposures, with the Starfield Optics Géar115 f/7 apo refractor taken as part of testing the scope, with its 1x Adjustable Field Flattener for the scope's native 805mm focal length, and with the stock 45-megapixel Canon R5 at ISO 1600. Autoguided and dithered with the MGEN3 autoguider on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No dark frames or LENR applied on this chilly night in December 2022. <br />
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Noise reduction with RC-Astro Noise XTerminator; star reduction with RC-Astro StarShrink. Galaxy details were enhanced with applications of: a masked High Pass Sharpen filter, Starizona's Galaxy Enhance action, and PhotoKemi Dark Details action. All stacking, alignment and processing in Photoshop.
    M33 Triangulum Galaxy (Géar115 R5 w...jpg
  • The Geminid meteor shower of 2022, showing the radiant point in Gemini at left, above the stars Castor and Pollux. Orion is at lower right. Mars in Taurus is at top, to the left of Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluste, and below the Pleiades. <br />
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I shot the images for this composite from home in Alberta on December 14, 2022, the night after the peak night, which of course was cloudy. The temperature was about -15° C. A heater band on the lens kept the frost off. I had to change the camera battery once during the evening's shoot. <br />
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This is a stack of 17 images of 500 shot that night, the ones containing meteors, taken over 4 hours from the first meteor frame to the last. Each exposure was 30 seconds at f/2.8 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and on the Canon R6 at ISO 1600, with the camera on a fixed tripod, not tracking the sky. The ground, sky and one meteor come from one base image taken near the middle of the sequence with the winter constellations nicely framed. I manually rotated and aligned each other image to the base image, to place each meteor at close to its correct position against the background stars, to preserve the appearance of the radiant in Gemini.<br />
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I blended in part of another sky image taken toward the end of the sequence when an aurora appeared briefly to the northeast. So this is certainly a time blend. The aurora actually appeared when the radiant point was higher than shown here.
    Geminid Meteor Shower 2022 (Untracke...jpg
  • The Geminid meteor shower of 2022, showing the radiant point in Gemini at left, above Castor and Pollux. Orion is at lower right. Mars in Taurus is at top, to the left of Aldebaran and the Hyades star cluster. The M44 Beehive star cluster is in the lower left corner. Small star clusters in Gemini (M35) and Auriga (M36, M37, M38) are at top.<br />
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I shot the images for this composite from home in Alberta on December 14, 2022, the night after the peak night, which of course was cloudy. The temperature was about -15° C. A heater band on the lens kept the frost off. I had to change the camera battery once during the evening's shoot. <br />
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This is a stack of 16 images of 500 shot that night, the ones containing meteors, taken over 4.5 hours from the first meteor frame to the last. Each exposure was 30 seconds at f/2 with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and on the Canon R5 at ISO 800, with the camera on a tracking mount to follow the sky so each frame would automatically align. The sky and stars come from one base image taken toward the end of the sequence with this area of sky at its highest but before the waning Moon rose to light the sky. Some red airglow tints the sky.
    Geminid Meteor Shower 2022 (Tracked ...jpg
  • A close-up view of the reappearance of Mars from behind the disk of the Full Moon, during the December 7, 2022 occultation of Mars. <br />
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Some of the dark mare areas covered in volcanic dust are visible on the disk of Mars, contrasting with the dark volcanic mare areas of the Moon. The region on the lunar limb that Mars is rising behind is the dark area called Mare Smythii. The main mare or "terra" region on Mars visible here is Mare Cimmerium. On the Moon's disk, Mare Crisium is at top, while below it is Mare Fecunditatis, with the prominent rayed crater Messier A. <br />
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This is a crop in from a single frame, not a stack, grabbed from the 8K video file taken with a Canon R5 camera shooting through the Astro-Physics 130mm refractor with a 2X Barlow, for a focal length of 1560mm at f/12. This frame had the best sharpness of many, as the seeing conditions were quite blurry for most of the time. Colour grading of the Canon Log3 video file was with Pixelmator Pro's new video editing functions, which included doing the crop.
    Occultation of Mars Reappearance Clo...jpg
  • A selfie of me observing Mars, the bright object at top, in Taurus, on a mild winter night from home on December 9, 2022. Mars was then two days past opposition and at its brightest. The waning gibbous Moon is the bright glow at left, lighting the sky blue and the snowy landscape below with sparkling moonlight. Orion is rising behind me, while Gemini is at far left.<br />
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I am observing with the Astro-Physics 130mm EDT refractor, an almost vintage telescope now, purchased in 1993 and still one of the best made of its type. It is on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. <br />
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This is a blend of two exposures with the TTArtisan 21mm lens at f/2.8, one focused on me, and one focused on the stars, both with the Canon R6 at ISO 800 for 3.2 seconds. Diffraction spikes on Mars added for artistic effect with AstronomyTools actions.
    Observing Mars (Dec. 9, 2022).jpg
  • This is the occultation of Mars by the Full Moon on December 7, 2022, in a composite showing the motion of Mars relative to the Moon. The motion here is from left to right. However, while this composite makes it look like Mars was doing the moving, it was really the Moon that was passing in front of Mars. But for this sequence I set the telescope mount to track the Moon at its rate of motion against the background stars and Mars, to keep the Moon more or less stationary on the frame while Mars and the background sky passed behind it. <br />
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Mars was at opposition this night and so was the Moon, so the Moon was full and Mars was at its brightest for this appearance in 2022. The size of the Martian disk was 17 arc seconds across this night and its magnitude was -1.8. Mars is twice the actual size of the Moon, but appears tiny here due to its greater distance — some 206 times farther away than the Moon. This night, the Moon was 397,000 kilometres away, near is apogee point, while Mars was 82 million kilometres away, a week after its closest approach.  <br />
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This is a blend of 40 exposures (20 pre-ingress at left and 20 post-egress at right) that each contained the Moon and Mars. The Moon image here is a single exposure taken at the end of the sequence when the sky was clearest. However, for many of the images, especially pre-ingress, the Moon and Mars were in light cloud and haze, adding the glow around the Moon. The sky is from a blend of all the images. <br />
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I shot images at one per minute, but used only every second frame here, so the images are two minutes apart, taken over 40 minutes on ether side of ingress and egress.<br />
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Each is a unique image subject to varying seeing conditions blurring some of the Mars disks more than others. This is not a composite made of the same "best" Mars image copied and pasted along what its path should have been. Even so, I still had to adjust the alignment somewhat for each image, as the field still drifted out over several minutes of tracking,
    Mars Occultation Composite (Dec 7, 2...jpg
  • Mars is about to be occulted by the Full Moon on December 7, 2022. This is ingress with the eastward moving (i.e. right to left here) Moon about to cover up Mars on the Moon's western limb. The sky had thin cloud adding the colourful halo, or "corona," around the Moon, so the sky is not black. <br />
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Mars was at opposition this night and so was the Moon, so the Moon was full and Mars was at its brightest for this appearance in 2022. The size of the Martian disk was 17 arc seconds across this night and its magnitude was -1.8. Mars is twice the actual size of the Moon, but appears tiny here due to its greater distance — some 206 times farther away than the Moon. This night, the Moon was 397,000 kilometres away, near is apogee point, while Mars was 82 million kilometres away, a week after its closest approach.  <br />
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This is a single 1/80-second exposure — it is not an exposure blend or composite — with the Canon R5 camera at ISO 400 and on the Astro-Physics 130EDT refractor with a 2x Barlow for an effective focal length of 1560mm at f/12. I've processed the image for high contrast on the lunar disk (using a Subject mask in Camera Raw) to emphasize its lunar seas and bright ray structures, such as from the crater Tycho at bottom, a relatively recent impact. I also brought out the sky colours from the clouds for added effect.
    Full Moon and Mars at Occultation (D...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. <br />
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Taken from home in Alberta, December 3, 2022, with the old rake as a foreground object.<br />
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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
  • The Local Group spiral galaxy, Messier 33 in Triangulum, with some of its star forming nebulas showing up as green-blue regions in its spiral arms. The field also contains some faint and much more distant 13th to 15th magnitude galaxies. <br />
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This is a stack of 20 x 4-minute exposures, with the Starfield Optics Géar115 f/7 apo refractor taken as part of testing the scope, with its 0.8x Adjustable Reducer for f/5.6 and with the stock 45-megapixel Canon R5 at ISO 800. Autoguided and dithered with the MGEN3 autoguider on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No dark frames or LENR applied on this mild night in November. <br />
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Noise reduction with RC-Astro Noise XTerminator. All stacking, alignment and processing in Photoshop.
    M33 Triangulum Galaxy (Géar115 R5).jpg
  • The Pleiades, aka Messier 45, embedded in the dusty nebulosity the star cluster is passing through in Taurus. The dust clouds are illuminated by light from the hot young blue stars. <br />
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This is a stack of just 12 x 4-minute exposures, as incoming Earth clouds spoiled some frames and prevented more exposures. Even so, some high haze hampered some of the images used in the final set. <br />
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All were with the Starfield Optics Géar115 f/7 apo refractor taken as part of testing the scope, with its 0.8x Adjustable Reducer for f/5.6 and with the stock 45-megapixel Canon R5 at ISO 800. Autoguided and dithered with the MGEN3 autoguider on the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount. No dark frames or LENR applied on this mild night in November. <br />
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I brought out the faint dust clouds with the application of luminosity masks created with Lumenzia extension panel in Photoshop, plus an application of the Nebula Filter action from the Photokemi Star Tools action set on a separate stamped layer and blended into the final image. Noise reduction with RC-Astro Noise XTerminator. All stacking, alignment and processing in Photoshop.
    M45 Pleiades (Gear115 R5).jpg
  • The autumn constellations of Perseus and Cassiopeia above, with bright Capella in Auriga and the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus, at bottom, rising in the northeast over Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, on a clear autumn night. The Double Cluster is at centre, above the larger group of stars around Mirfak called the Perseus Association.<br />
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This is a blend of a single tracked 2-minute exposure for the sky and water with the reflected stars, with a stack of two untracked 3-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 1600. I shot this October 16, 2022. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. <br />
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The reflected stars are trailed not just because of the water movement but also because the tracker is following the stars in the sky, not the water. Having untrailed reflected stars would require polar aligning the tracker on the reflected celestial pole, in this case some 53° below the horizon due north. Mild Orton glows added with Radiant Photo and Luminar Neo.
    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. <br />
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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. <br />
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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
  • This is the totally eclipsed Moon of November 8, 2022 set in the stars of Aries, with the planet Uranus nearby, visible as the greenish star about three Moon diameters away from the Moon at the 10 o'clock position. Uranus was at oppostion the next night, November 9, at magnitude 5.6. <br />
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I shot the set of images for this scene at about 3:28 a.m. MST, about 20 minutes after the start of this long totality, so the right (lunar eastern) limb of the Moon was still fairly bright. The field of view is about 7.6° by 5°. <br />
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This is a blend of four exposures to compress the dynamic range and record the stars while maintaining the Moon more as the eye saw it. I blended a 5-second exposure at ISO 1600 for the stars, with 1-, 2-, and 5-second exposures at ISO 200 for the lunar disk, all with the Canon Ra on the SharpStar 61mm EDPH refractor with the Reducer/Flattener for f/4.6. The scope and camera were on the Star Adventurer tracker, turning at the sidereal rate for the long exposure for the stars but at the slower lunar rate for the shorter, lower ISO exposures for the Moon. Blending was with old-fashioned manual masking, not HDR routines or even luminosity masks.<br />
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It was -25° C this night, and with several inches of snow having just fallen that day, so I kept the gear complexity to a minimum. However, using a 280mm focal length scope on the tracker was pushing it. Most long exposures for the starfield were trailed. I shot several sets of "HDR" exposures to be sure I got one that worked.
    Total Lunar Eclipse in Starfield (No...jpg
  • A wide-angle view of the total eclipse of the Moon of November 8, 2022, with the red Moon at right amid the stars of the northern winter sky and Milky Way, plus with bright red Mars at top. Above and left of the Moon is the blue Pleiades star cluster, while below it and to the left is the larger Hyades cluster with reddish Aldebaran in Taurus. The stars of Orion are left of centre, including reddish Betelgeuse, while at far left are the two Dog Stars: Procyon, at top, in Canis Minor, and Sirius, at bottom, in Canis Major. <br />
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So this is a gathering of many red stars, planets and the rare red Moon. <br />
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I shot the frames for this scene beginning at 3:50 am MST, 10 minutes before mid-totality during this 1h25m-long total eclipse. Some ice haze this night added the natural star glows. Either bands of airglow, or perhaps just reflected lights off the icy haze add the reddish bands to the sky. The sky scene appears over the old abandoned pioneer house on my property. <br />
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This is a stack of 4 x 1-minute tracked exposures at ISO 1600 for the sky, blended with a single 1-minute tracked exposure at ISO 1600 for the ground to minimize blurring (I left the tracker running at the sidereal rate for all frames), plus a 5-second exposure for the Moon itself at ISO 400 to preserve the colouration of the disk and not overexpose it. However, I enlarged this short exposure Moon by 1.5x to cover up the overexposed Moon better and to better simulate the naked eye view where the eye and brain always thinks the Moon is much larger than the 0.5° it really is in the sky. A mild Orton glow added to the entire scene with Luminar Neo. <br />
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All frames the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 16mm and f/2.8 on the Canon R5, and on the Star Adventurer tracker. <br />
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Shot from home in southern Alberta on a night that we were lucky to have clear at all, as it had been snowing heavily all day. It cleared at night as predicted, but the temperature dropped to -25° C, so just operating gear was a chore, limiting my ambitions t
    Total Lunar Eclipse - Wide View (Nov...jpg
  • A self-portrait of me observing the total eclipse of the Moon on November 8, 2022, on a very cold (-25° C) morning at 4 am. Above the red Moon are the stars of Taurus including the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters. <br />
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This is a single 15-second exposure with the Canon R6 at ISO 3200 and 21mm TTArtisan lens at f/2.8. The camera gear in frame was the Star Adventurer tracker and the Canon R5 and RF15-35mm lens I used to take tracked images of the winter sky scene with the Milky Way.
    Selfie Observing Nov 8, 2022 TLE.jpg
  • Shafts of sunlight (technically called crepuscular rays) captured on a partly cloudy day over the peaks of the Continental Divide and the glacier-fed Athabasca River. This was from the Goats and Glaciers Viewpoint on the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park on a mid-October day. <br />
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This is a single hand-held exposure with the RF15-35mm lens at 28mm on the Canon R5. Enhancements added with Radiant Photo, Luminar Neo and ON1 Effects.
    Sunbeams over Athabasca River.jpg
  • The summer Milky Way over and reflected in the relatively calm water of Pyramid Lake in Jasper National Park, on a mid-October night. The Jasper Sky Tram adds the lights on Whistler Peak. Bands of airglow tint the sky with red. Lights from the Jasper townsite, still mostly unshielded sodium vapour lights as of 2022, add the skyglow at left. Altair is the bright star at top. The red Lagoon Nebula is just setting behind the mountain skyline. The slight wind rippled the water enough to prevent a perfect reflection. <br />
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I shot this during the first weekend of the 2022 Jasper Dark Sky Festival, and so there were quite a few people on the island, and next to me at this spot, and around Pyramid Lake enjoying the stars on this mild autumn night.<br />
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This is a blend of: a stack of 4 x 1-minute tracked exposures for the sky at ISO 1600 plus a stack of 7 x 2-minute untracked exposures at ISO 800 for the ground, plus an additional single 1-minute tracked exposure for the reflected stars and the foreground water. All were with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. The tracked exposures were shot first, followed immediately by the untracked ground exposures. I enhanced the landscape slightly with the Radiant Photo plug in and added a mild Orton glow with Luminar Neo. Noise reduction was with ON1 NoNoise AI.
    Milky Way over Pyramid Lake.jpg
  • The stars of the Big Dipper over the iconic peak of Pyramid Mountain from Pyramid Island, a popular location in Jasper National Park, Alberta, for nightscape and aurora photography. This was on a very clear night in mid-October, 2022, with many aspen stands still in full autumn colour. The images for this scene were shot at moonrise, with the waning gibbous Moon off frame at right lighting the sky blue and landscape with warm alpenglow moonlight. As bonus, a short bright meteor and its orange "smoke" trail appeared on the sky exposures.   I shot this during the first weekend of the 2022 Jasper Dark Sky Festival, and so there were quite a few people on the island and around Pyramid Lake this night enjoying the stars on this mild autumn night.  This is a blend of: a stack of 4 x 1-minute tracked exposures for the sky at ISO 1600 plus a stack of 6 x 3-minute untracked exposures at ISO 800 for the ground, all with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 20mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini. The tracked exposures were shot first, followed immediately by the untracked ground exposures timed to catch the alpenglow lighting of the mountain and trees. I enhanced the landscape slightly with the Radiant Photo plug in and added a mild Orton glow with Luminar Neo. Noise reduction was with ON1 NoNoise AI.
    Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain.jpg
  • This is a panorama of Peyto Lake in Banff National Park, on the Icefields Parkway in Alberta, taken at moonrise on a very clear and mild mid-October evening. The glacier-fed lake appears its characteristic blue even when lit by starlight. It is not blended in from an earlier "blue hour" shot.<br />
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To the southwest at left is the summer Milky Way over Peyto Glacier and Peyto Peak. To the west at centre is Arcturus setting over Caldron Peak, while to the north at left of centre are the stars of the Big Dipper and Ursa Major. At far right, in the blue moonlit sky, is Perseus and the autumn Milky Way. At far left over the walkway is Saturn in Capricornus. <br />
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Magenta airglow tints the northern sky and nicely frames the peaks, which are lit by golden lunar alpenglow, warm light from the rising waning gibbous Moon behind the peaks at right to the east. This is an example of a "moonstrike" image; the timing was perfect this night to catch the mix of Milky Way and alpenglow.  <br />
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I was the only one there that night to enjoy the view, and occupy the prime spot at the end of the new viewpoint. <br />
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This is a blend of two panoramas: the first of the sky taken at or just before moonrise with the camera on a star tracker to keep the stars pinpoint, and the second taken for the ground about 20 minutes later with the tracker off, when the Moon was up high enough to light the peaks of the Continental Divide west of Peyto Lake. Both pans were with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8, and Canon R5 at ISO 1600, with the sky pan being 6 segments for 1 minute each, and the untracked ground panorama being the same 6 segments for 2 minutes each, but with LENR on to subtract thermal noise hot pixels from the image, something the R5 is prone to. <br />
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Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw and masked and blended in Photoshop. Noise reduction was with ON1 NoNoise AI, and foreground enhancement with the Radiant Photo plug-in, plus with a mild Orton glow added mostly to the sky with Luminar Neo.
    Peyto Lake at Night Panorama.jpg
  • The stars of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, over the waters of Peyto Lake, Banff, in deep twilight. Arcturus in Böotes, the Bear Driver, is setting over the peak at left. Ursa Major contains the seven stars that make up the Big Dipper, aka the Plough or the Wagon. This was October 13, 2022 on a very clear night in the Rocky Mountains. <br />
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This is a stack of 6 x 30-second exposures for the ground and a single untracked 30-second exposure for the sky, all at f/2.8 with the Canon RF 15-35mm lens at 15mm, and Canon R5 at ISO 800.
    Ursa Major over Peyto Lake in Twilig...jpg
  • A panorama of the northern stars in autumn over and reflected in the calm waters of Lake Edith in Jasper National Park, in the deep twilight. The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are at left, with Arcturus over Pyramid Mountain at far left. Capella is rising at right, and above it are the stars of Perseus and Cassiopeia. This was on a very clear mid-October night in 2022. <br />
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This is a blend of two panoramas: a 4 x 1-minute tracked panorama for the sky at ISO 800, and a 4 x 2-minute untracked panorama taken immediately afterwards at ISO 1600, all with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 15mm, on the Canon R5. Stitched in Adobe Camera Raw. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo. The tracker was the Star Adventurer Mini.
    Northern Sky Over Lake Edith.jpg
  • NGC 281, aka the Pacman Nebula, in Cassiopeia, near the bright star Schedir (or Shedar), at right, and below Achird at top. <br />
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Above and right of Achird is the small green planetary nebula Abell 2, while above and left of Achird is the small star cluster King 2. Below NGC 281 and Schedir is a small reflection nebula unmarked on any of the print and digital star atlases I have, including the very comprehensive Millenium Star Atlas and the Tri-Atlas. Some fainter reflection nebulosity lies to the left of NGC 281. <br />
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This is a stack of 10 x 8 minute exposures at ISO 1600 through an IDAS NB1 dual narrowband filter, blended with a stack of 12 x 4 minute exposures at ISO 800, all with the Canon Ra on the Starfield Optics Géar90 apo refractor with the 0.8x Adjustable Flattener/Reducer for f/4.8. On the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount, autoguided and dithered with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider. All aligned, stacked and blended in Adobe Photoshop. An application of the Photokemi Star Tools Nebula Filter action helped bring out the faint nebulosity.
    NGC 281 Pacman Nebula (Géar90 Ra).jpg
  • This is the small and sparse star cluster M29 (Messier 29) at centre in Cygnus the Swan. It barely stands out from the rich background Milky Way field in this long exposure. Above M29 is the IC 1318 complex of nebulosity around the bright star Gamma Cygni, aka Sadr. <br />
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This is a stack of 12 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 800 with the Canon R5 and through the Starfield Optics Géar90 EDT refractor with its 0.8x Adjustable Reducer/Flattener for f/4.8. On the Astro-Physics Mach1 mount and autoguided and dithered with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider. The Canon R5 is a stock camera, not modified and no filter was employed here, but it picked up the nebulosity quite well.
    Messier 29 in Cygnus (Géar90 R5).jpg
  • This is NGC 457, the ET or Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia, in a stack of images showing the total number of satellite trails recorded over the 36 minutes of total expposure time this night. By coincidence, the trails frame the main subject, but the number of satellites now above us make it nearly impossible to take a long exposure image, certainly at the start or end of a night, without recording at least one satellite trail, if not more, per image. Some of the parallel streaks could be Starlink satellites. <br />
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This was from 51° north on a mid-October night, between 8:18 pm and 8:52 pm MDT. <br />
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This is a stack of 12 x 3-minute exposures, stacked to add together, rather than average out, the trails. This was with the Starfield Géar90 apo refractor at f/4.8 with its Reducer/Flattener, and Canon Ra at ISO 1600.
    NGC 457 with Accumulated Satellite T...jpg
  • A framing of the field around the bright white star Altair (lower left), and the orange giant star Tarazed above, with the dark nebula complex B142 (lower dark lane) and B143 (the top pair of dark lanes), together known as Barnard's E. These are all in Aquila.<br />
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This is a stack of 12 x 4-minute exposures at ISO 800 with the Canon Ra camera, on the Starfield Optics Géar90 EDT f/6 refractor with its 0.8x Reducer/Flattener for f/4.8 effective. Taken from home October 23, 2022. On the AP Mach1 mount and autoguided and dithered with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider.
    Altair & Barnards E (Géar90 Ra).jpg
  • This is NGC 457, the ET or Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia. The small cluster NGC 436 lies above the Owl. A faint planetary nebula, Simeis 22, is to the left, but is barely recorded here in these short unfiltered exposures. The field contains quite a few yellow giant stars. <br />
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This is a stack of 12 x 3-minute exposures, stacked to average out the many satellite trails that appeared on the sub-frames. This was with the Starfield Géar90 apo refractor at f/4.8 with its Reducer/Flattener, and Canon Ra at ISO 1600. Autoguided and dithered with the Lacerta MGEN3 autoguider.
    NGC 457, ET Cluster (Géar90 Ra).jpg
  • Galaxy and glacier! The Milky Way over glacier-fed Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier in Banff National Park, Alberta. The Scutum Starcloud is just above and setting over Victoria Glacier, accompanied by star clusters in Serpens and Ophiuchus. Some airglow tints the sky above the mountains green and magenta. <br />
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I shot this on a fine night on October 17, 2022 from the usual lakeshore promenade. Planning the timing of the shot was done with The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE) and TPE3D. <br />
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While an iconic picture-postcard scene by day, it is a challenge to shoot at night as lights from the Chateau Lake Louise behind the camera illuminate the foreground and the distant wooded mountainsides. <br />
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This is a blend of two sets of exposures: <br />
- a stack of two untracked 2-minute exposures for the ground at ISO 800<br />
- a stack of four tracked 1-minute exposures for the sky at ISO 1600 <br />
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All with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 20mm and Canon R5, and with the camera and tripod not moving between image sets, and on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. The reflected stars are trailed as they come from the untracked ground shots. Tracking reflected stars is very tough as it requires re-aligning the tracker to turn around the reflected celestial pole, in my case 51° below the horizon, not very practical. <br />
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Panoramas stitched in Adobe Camera Raw and blended and masked in Photoshop. A mild Orton glow effect added to the sky with Luminar Neo and a ground enhancement effect added with Radiant Photo plug-in.
    Lake Louise by Night.jpg
  • Galaxy and glacier! This is a vertical panorama of the Milky Way Galaxy over Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier in Banff National Park, Alberta. The Summer Triangle stars of Vega, Deneb and Altair are at centre. The Scutum Starcloud is just above and setting over Victoria Glacier. The dark lanes of interstellar dust — stardust! — weave among the bright star clouds of the Milky Way. <br />
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I shot this on a fine night on October 17, 2022 from the usual lakeshore promenade. While a very iconic scene, it is a challenge to shoot at night as lights from the Chateau Lake Louise illuminate the foreground and even the distant wooded mountainsides. Some green and red airglow tints the sky along the horizon. <br />
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This is a blend of three vertical panoramas: <br />
- the first is a set of three untracked 2-minute exposures for the ground at ISO 800 with the camera moved up by 15° from segment to segment; <br />
- the second shot immediately afterward is made of 7 x 1-minute tracked exposures at ISO 1600 for the sky, also moved 15° vertically from segment to segment; <br />
- elements of a third 3-section panorama taken about 90 minutes earlier during "blue hour" were blended in at a low level to provide better lighting on the distant peaks.<br />
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All with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 20mm and Canon R5, and with the camera not moving between image sets, and on the Star Adventurer Mini tracker. The reflected stars are trailed as they come from the untracked ground shots. Tracking reflected stars is very tough as it requires re-aligning the tracker to turn around the reflected celestial pole, in my case 51° below the horizon, not very practical. <br />
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Panoramas stitched in Adobe Camera Raw and blended and masked in Photoshop. A mild Orton glow effect added with Luminar Neo. Foreground and landscape enhanced with Radiant Photo plug-in.
    Milky Way Over Lake Louise.jpg
  • Mount Cephren at Lower Waterfowl Lake, in the light of the low waning Moon lighting the peaks but not the foreground. This is from the lakeside viewpoint on the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park, Alberta. I shot this on a very clear night October 13, 2022. There was enough wind to ripple the water and blur any stellar reflections. The Milky Way is to the left of Cephren, but is being lost in the brightening moonlit sky. <br />
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This is a blend of 5 x 20-second exposures stacked for the ground to smooth noise, and a single 20-second exposure for the sky, all with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 1600. All were untracked camera-on-tripod shots. ON1 NoNoise AI applied to the single sky image for noise reduction. A mild Orton glow added with Luminar AI.
    Mount Cephren by Moonlight.jpg
  • The Big Dipper and Arcturus over a treed nightscape in the Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan. Taken during the annual Saskatchewan Summer Star Party in late August 2022. The Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park is a Dark Sky Preserve.<br />
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This is a blend of a single 30-second untracked exposure for the sky and a stack of four 30-second exppsures for the ground, all with the RF15-35mm lens at 19mm and f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 3200. NoiseXTerminator used to reduce noise in the sky, ON1 NoNoise AI applied to the ground. and a glow effect added with Luminar AI.
    Arcturus and Big Dipper at Cypress H...jpg
  • A panorama of the glacier-fed Athabasca River and peaks around Mount Fryatt in Jasper National Park, as the Milky Way is setting and the waning gibbous Moon rising, lighting the peaks of the Continental DIvide with lunar alpenglow. Mount Fryatt is at centre, while to the right is Mount Geraldine, and to the left are Brussels Peak and Mount Christie. Jasper is one of the world's largest Dark Sky Preserves. <br />
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I shot this on a fine night on October 15, 2022 from the "Goats and Glaciers" Viewpoint on the Icefields Parkway. Jupiter, large and fuzzy in some thin cloud, is at far left, while Saturn is left of centre over Mount Christie. The bright area in the Milky Way over Mount Fryatt is the Scutum Starcloud. Altair is the bright star at top. Some green airglow tints the sky at left, while some red airglow or possibly low-level aurora tints the sky at right. The location is called Goats and Glaciers because mountain goats are often here enjoying the salt lick deposits. <br />
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This is a blend of three 3-section panoramas: <br />
- the first taken with a Star Adventurer Mini for 3 x 2-minute tracked exposures for the sky at ISO 800; <br />
- the second immediately afterward with the tracker off for 3 x 3-minutes at ISO 800 for the ground; <br />
- and the third taken about an hour later as the Moon rose, lighting the peaks with warm light, for 3 x 2.5-minutes at ISO 1600. <br />
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All with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at f/2.8 and 15mm and Canon R5, and with the camera not moving between image sets . So this is a time blend, combining frames taken an hour apart, to retain the dark sky with the Milky Way before moonrise, blended with the alpenglow at moonrise. However, most of the landscape comes from the earlier panorama lit only by starlight. <br />
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Panoramas stitched in Adobe Camera Raw and blended and masked in Photoshop.
    Milky Way Over the Athabasca River P...jpg
  • The rising of the Full "Hunter's Moon" of October 9, 2022, with the Moon reflected in the calm waters this night at Crawling Lake Reservoir in southern Alberta. The Moon appeared very pink as it rose into the clear sky near the horizon.<br />
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This is a single image with the RF70-200mm lens at 200mm and Canon R5. There is also a composite time-lapse version of this, as this was one frame from a set of 110 frames taken this night as the Moon rose.
    Reflected Moonrise at Crawling Lake ...jpg
  • The rising of the Full "Hunter's Moon" of October 9, 2022, with the Moon reflected in the calm waters this night at Crawling Lake Reservoir in southern Alberta. The Moon appeared very pink as it rose into the clear sky near the horizo, then turned more yellow as it rose into scattered bands of cloud. <br />
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This serves as a goo demo of the Moon illusion and how the Moon does not change size as it rises — it is the same size on the horizon as it is higher up.<br />
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This is a blend of 10 images taken 3 minutes apart with the RF70-200mm lens at 200mm and Canon R5, each frame exposed for the Moon. The frames were blended onto the first image (which contributes the lowest Moon and all the sky and foreground) in Photoshop using a Normal blend mode but with Blend If sliders and masks to isolate the later moons and reflected moons. <br />
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There is also a single-image version of this scene.
    Reflected Moonrise at Crawling Lake ...jpg
  • The rising of the nearly Full Moon on October 8, 2022, the Hunter's Moon. This was the evening before the official day of Full Moon. Jupiter is just at upper right. <br />
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This is a single shot with the RF70-200mm lens at 200mm and f/4 on the Canon R5. Taken from near home in southern Alberta.
    Hunter's Moonrise (Oct 8, 2022).jpg
  • Mercury a morning before its greatest western elongation in the eastern dawn sky, October 7, 2022. Taken from home in Alberta at latitude 51° N. <br />
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A single 1-second image with the RF28-70mm lens at f/4 and 70mm and Canon Ra at ISO 100.
    Mercury at GEW at Dawn (Oct 7, 2022).jpg
  • The Zodiacal Light at dawn on an autumn morning, October 7, 2022. Orion, Sirius, and the winter Milky Way are at right; Mars is the bright object at top right. The Beehive star cluster is at centre embedded in the Light. Leo is rising at left. Bands of airglow tint the sky. <br />
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This is a stack of 12 x 30-second tracked exposures at ISO 3200 with the Canon R5 and RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8. On the Star Adventurer tracker. The ground is a single image to minimize blurring. Taken from home in Alberta, latitude 51° N.
    Zodiacal Light at Dawn (Oct 7, 2022).jpg
  • A framing of some of the main open star clusters in eastern Cassiopeia, including: NGC 663 at lower left and NGC 457 at upper right. NGC 457 is known as the Owl or ET Cluster. Above NGC 457 is smaller NGC 436 and above NGC 663 is smaller NGC 654. To the right of NGC 663 is NGC 659. Between NGC 663 and the bright blue star Ruchbah is Messier 103. The yellowed cluster in the extreme lower left corner is Be 6.<br />
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This is a stack of 20 x 5-minute exposures with the SharpStar 76mm EDPH with its f/4.5 reducer/flattener, and the Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the Star Adventurer GTi mount, autoguided with the Lacerta MGEN3. No filters were employed.
    Cassiopeia Clusters (SS76 R5).jpg
  • This is a framing of the rich complex of nebulosity in and around the constellations of northern Cygnus and southern Cepheus, in a blend of "white light" images and images shot through a deep red hydrogen-alpha filter that isolates the red emission line from the gas clouds, bringing them out in much more detail than is otherwise possible.<br />
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The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and adjacent Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) are below centre beside blue Deneb. The Gamma Cygni complex, IC 1318, is at lower right. The main nebula at top left is IC 1396 in Cepheus. The Cocoon Nebula lies at the end of the long dark strreak, B168, left of centre. The wispy streak at bottom left is Sharpless 2-126, aka the Great Lacerta Nebula, though it does not look too great here! It is one of many faint arcs and patches of emission nebulosity that litter the field. The dark area below Deneb is the Northern Coal Sack. The darker region above Deneb is the Funnel Cloud Nebula, aka LeGentil 3. The bright area at lower right in the Milky Way is the Cygnus Starcloud, a region less obscured by dark interstellar dust. <br />
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This is a blend of: a stack of 14 x 5-minute exposures at f/2 and ISO 3200 with the Canon Ra equipped with a clip-in Astronomik 12nm H-alpha filter, plus a stack of 6 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, with the latter shot through a front-mounted URTH broadband filter to help block skyglow and gradients. All with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 50mm and on the Star Adventurer tracker for tracked but unguided shots taken from home October 2, 2022 on a very clear and mild night. Dew spoiled the last of the white light images, thus I used only the first 6 for the stack. The dew added the natural star glows. The initial H-alpha shots were taken with the waxing crecent Moon still up. <br />
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All stacking, alignment and blending in Photoshop. Luminosity masks applied with Lumenzia. The H-alpha stack was layered in with a Screen blend mode and with its own adjustment layers and masks, and colori
    Cygnus & Cepheus Nebulosity (28-...jpg
  • This is a framing of the rich complex of nebulosity in and around the constellation of Cygnus, in a blend of "white light" images and images shot through a deep red hydrogen-alpha filter that isolates the red emission line from the gas clouds, bringing them out in much more detail than is otherwise possible.<br />
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The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) and adjacent Pelican Nebula (IC 5070) are at upper left beside blue Deneb. The Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant, and catalogued as NGC 6995 and NGC 6960 for the main arcs, is at lower left. The Gamma Cygni complex, IC 1318, is at centre. However, the field is littered with other faint arcs and patches of emission nebulosity. The dark area below Deneb is the Northern Coal Sack. The bright area at lower right in the Milky Way is the Cygnus Starcloud, a region less obscured by dark interstellar dust. The "beak" star of Cygnus, Albireo, is at lower right, so the framing takes in most of Cygnus and all of the Northern Cross asterism. <br />
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This is a blend of: a stack of 20 x 5-minute exposures at f/2 and ISO 3200 with the Canon Ra equipped with a clip-in Asrtronomik 12nm H-alpha filter, plus a stack of 25 x 2-minute exposures at f/2.8 and ISO 1600, with the latter shot through a front-mounted URTH broadband filter to help block skyglow and gradients. All with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 70mm and on the Star Adventurer tracker for tracked but unguided shots taken from home October 1, 2022 on a very clear and mild night for a total of 150 minutes of exposure. The initial H-alpha shots were taken with the waxing crecent Moon still up. <br />
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All stacking, alignment and blending in Photoshop. Luminosity masks applied with Lumenzia. The H-alpha stack was layered in with a Screen blend mode and with its own adjustment layers and masks, and colorized with a Hue-Saturation layer. The H-alpha data was not added by replacing the red channel, as that provides no control of the blend of the H-alpha image. A mild and masked Orton Glow effect added wit
    Cygnus Nebulosity (28-70mm with Ha).jpg
  • The small constellation of Sagitta the Arrow, in the Milky Way. The small globular cluster, Messier 71, is between Gamma Sagittae and Delta Sagittae. Below M71 is the very sparse star cluster Harvard 20. The emission nebula Sharpless 2-84 is supposedly at centre but does not show up here except perhaps as a dim blue area of reflection nebulosity, though there is some faint red emission nebulosity at lower right. <br />
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This is a stack of 10 x 5-minute exposures through the SharpStar 61EDPH II refractor with its flattener/reducer at f/4.6 and the red-sensitive Canon Ra, though with no filter employed here. The mount was the little Star Adventurer GTi portable GoTo mount undergoing testing, and autoguided with the ZWO ASIAir and its little 30mm guidescope, with the Air also controlling the Ra and performing dithering moves between each exposure. The guiding worked very well. No darks or LENR were applied here, but the stacking averaged out the thermal noise hot pixels on this fairly warm autumn night, September 27, 2022. <br />
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All stacking and alignment with Photoshop. A mild Orton Glow effect added with Luminar AI.
    Sagitta and M71 (SS61 Ra).jpg
  • The famous Double Cluster (NGC 869, right and NGC 884, left) in Perseus, in a wide-field shot that includes the nearby stars clusters NGC 957 to the left, and Trumpler 2 at bottom left. The large and sparse cluster Stock 2, aka the Muscle Man Cluster, is at upper right. The field is filled with yellow supergiant stars. The field of view is similar to that of binoculars. <br />
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This is a stack of 20 (!) x 3-minute exposures with the SharpStar 61EDPH II refractor with its reducer/flattener at f/4.5, and the Canon Ra at ISO 800. Autoguided with the MGENIII, on the Star Adventurer GTi mount taken as part of testing the mount. A slight camera tilt from the reducer's rotator mechanism being a bit loose produces slightly soft stars on the left side of the frame. Taken from home September 25, 2022.
    Double Cluster and Environs (SS61 Ra...jpg
  • The colourful region in and around the Coathanger asterism in Vulpecula the Fox. The grouping is not a star cluster per se, though it is catalogued as one, Collinder 399. It is also known as Brocchi's Cluster. A true star cluster, NGC 6802, is located at the east (left) end of the Coathanger, as the small clump of stars. The area is also rich in faint nebulosity, notably: the Sharpless 2-83 reflection nebula complex above the Coathanger, and the small, round Sharpless 2-82 emission and reflection nebula below the Coathanger. The large area of red emission nebula at bottom right is not catalogued or labelled in any of the star atlases I have, including the Millenium Star Atlas and Uranometria. However, the small round red "nebula" on the bottom edge of the large nebula is actually a highly reddened globular cluster, Palomar 10. This area of the Milky Way is rich in dark nebulas and absorbing dust, yellowing the fields. <br />
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This is a stack of 10 x 5-minute exposures through the SharpStar 61EDPH II refractor with its flattener/reducer at f/4.5 and the red-sensitive Canon Ra, though with no filter employed here. The mount was the little Star Adventurer GTi portable GoTo mount undergoing testing, and autoguided with the ZWO ASIAir and its little 30mm guidescope, with the Air also controlling the Ra and performing dithering moves between each exposure. The guiding worked very well. No darks or LENR were applied here, but the stacking averaged out the thermal noise hot pixels on this fairly warm autumn night, September 27, 2022. <br />
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All stacking and alignment with Photoshop. A mild Orton Glow effect added with Luminar AI, plus an application of PK Actions Dark Detail Hard action (a form of high-pass sharpening), two somewhat opposing effects -- i.e. fine sharpening plus overall softening. But the result does punch up the nebulosity, as does some luminosity masked curves adjustment layers from TK Actions and Lumenzia. Noise reduction was with RC Astro's Noise XTerminator.
    Coathanger Cluster Cr399 (SS61 Ra).jpg
  • A framing of most of the constellation of Perseus, with the brightest star in the constellation, Mirfak or Alpha Persei at centre. At lower right is Algol, the Demon Star. At top is the Double Cluster of stars, aka NGC 868 and 884, while at top left is the Heart and Soul Nebula complex, aka IC 1805 and IC 1848. The small star cluster NGC 1245 lies between Mirfak and Algol. The bright Messier cluster M34 is just off frame at right. The bright blue stars surrounding Mirfak are the Perseus OB3 Association, or Melotte 20, aka the Alpha Persei Moving Group.<br />
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The field is about 16° by 24°. <br />
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This is a stack of 8 x 2-minute exposures with the Rokinon RF85mm lens at f/2.8 on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. An additional exposure through an Alyn Wallace/Kase Star Glow filter added the star glows to emphasize their colours and prominence. All stacking, alignment and layering in Photoshop. The camera was on the Star Adventurer. Taken from home on a very clear night, September 27, 2022.
    Perseus (85mm R5).jpg
  • A framing of the Milky Way from Altair in Aquila at bottom up to Albireo in Cygnus at top. The prominent dark nebulas B142 and B143, aka Barnard's E, are right of yellowish Tarazed above Altair. The constellation of Sagitta the Arrow is at centre, and to the right of Sagitta in the dark dust lanes is the Coathanger asterism, aka Collinder 399. Above Sagitta is the green disk of the Dumbbell Nebula, Messier 27, in Vulpecula the Fox. Above it, at upper left is the star cluster NGC 6885. And as a bonus, one of the stars in Sagitta is actually the globular cluster Messier 71.<br />
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The field is about 24° by 16°. <br />
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This is a stack of 6 x 3-minute exposures with the Rokinon RF85mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the Star Adventurer tracker. Taken from home on Sept. 27, 2022. Stacked and aligned in Photoshop. A mild star glow effect added with Luminar AI.
    Milky Way from Altair to Albireo (85...jpg
  • A framing of northern Aquila and the Milky Way near Altair, the bright blue-white star at left. Above is yellowish Tarazed, below is dimmer Alshain. To the right of Tarazed are the dark nebulas Barnard 142 and 143, aka Barnard's E. <br />
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The field is about 24° by 16°. <br />
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This is a stack of 8 x 2-minute exposures with the Rokinon RF85mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the Star Adventurer tracker. Taken from home on Sept. 25/26, 2022. Stacked and aligned in Photoshop. A mild star glow effect added with Luminar AI.
    Milky Way in Aquila (85mm R5).jpg
  • A framing of the group of large binocular-class star clusters in Serpens and Ophiuchus: notably, the pairing of IC 4756 (left) and NGC 6633 (right) at upper left, sometimes known as the S-O Double Cluster, or Tweedledum and Tweedledee (really!), and the cluster IC 4665 at right above the bright star Cebelrai, or Beta Ophiuchi.<br />
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At centre is the V-shaped asterism known as Poniatowski's Bull, from a defunct constellation created in 1777 by polish astronomer Marcin Poczobut to honour the king of Poland at the time. The grouping is also catalogued as Melotte 186 and Collinder 359. The asterism was marked as a constellation on Bode's Uranographia star atlas of 1801. <br />
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The bright star at upper right is Rasalhague in Ophiuchus. <br />
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This is a stack of 8 x 1-minute exposures at f/2.8 with the Rokinon RF85mm lens on the Canon R5 at ISO 800, blended with a single exposure through an Alyn Wallace/Kase StarGlow filter to add the star glows! The camera was on the Star Adventurer tracker. Taken from home Sept. 25, 2022.
    Star Clusters in Serpens and Ophiuch...jpg
  • A framing of the Milky Way in Sagitta and Vulpecula below Cygnus. The stars of Sagitta the Arrow are at lower left. The distinctive asterism, the Coathanger, is at lower right embedded in the dark lanes of the Milky Way. It is also called Collinder 399 and Brocchi's Cluster. The green Dumbbell Nebula, M27, is just left of centre. The star Albireo is at top. Faint nebulosity inhabits the area, such as NGC 6820 left of the Coathanger, but as this was shot with an unmodified camera the red nebulas don't show up well here. <br />
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The field is about 24° by 16°. <br />
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This is a stack of 10 x 2-minute exposures with the Rokinon RF85mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 800, on the Star Adventurer tracker. Taken from home on Sept. 26/27, 2022. Stacked and aligned in Photoshop. A mild star glow effect added with Luminar AI.
    Milky Way in Sagitta and Vulpecula (...jpg
  • A framing of Andromeda and Triangulum showing both their respective galaxies, Messier 31 at top right, and Messier 33 at bottom left. As a bonus, the large star cluster NGC 752 is at upper left. The yellowish star that serves as a star-hopping starting point for M31 and M33, Mirach in Andromeda, is right of centre. The stars of Triangulum are at lower left. Almach in Andromeda is at upper left. <br />
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This is a stack of 6 x 3-minute exposures with the Rokinon RF85mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon R5 at ISO 1600, on the Star Adventurer tracker. Taken from home on Sept. 25/26, 2022. Some light cloud added the star glows. Stacked and aligned in Photoshop.
    M31 and M33 Galaxies (85mm R5).jpg
  • An illustration of a red auroral curtain mixing with the green auroral arc to make an area of yellow-orange in the aurora this night. This was from home in Alberta on September 26, 2022. It frames the stars of Taurus rising with bright Mars at left and the Hyades star cluster at right. <br />
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This is a tracked 30-second exposure with the Rokinon RF85mm lens at f/2, on the Canon R5 at ISO 800.
    Green and Red Aurora Mixing (Sept 26...jpg
  • Mars (at left in the thin band of cloud) and the stars of Taurus rising amid an aurora, on September 26, 2022. The Hyades is at right. <br />
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This is a single tracked 30-second exposure with the RF85mm Rokinon lens at f/2 on the Canon R5 at ISO 1000.
    Mars RIsing in an Aurora (Sept 26, 2...jpg
  • A fish-eye image of the aurora of Sept. 26/27, 2022, from home in Alberta, with the Milky Way across the sky from south to north, and a vey dim red SAR (Stable Auroral Red) arc crossing the sky from east to west overhead.<br />
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This is a single 30-second exposure with the TTArtisan 7.5mm lens at f/2 on the Canon R6 at ISO 2000. Taken as part of a time-lapse sequence to look for the development of a SAR arc or STEVE.
    Aurora and Milky Way (Sept. 26, 2022...jpg
  • A bright green auroral arc with prominent red curtains, to the east in front of the winter stars rising. with bright Mars below centre and the Pleiades at top right. This was from home in Alberta on September 26, 2022. <br />
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This is a tracked 10-second exposure with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 28mm and at f/2, on the Canon R5 at ISO 2500.
    Green and Red Auroral Curtains (Sept...jpg
  • This is the field in Vulpecula the Fox that contains the famous planetary nebula, the Dumbbell Nebula aka Messier 27, at left, but also the faint emission nebulas NGC 6820 at right and Sharpless 2-88 above it. The small star cluster below centre is NGC 6830. A small star cluster, NGC 6823, lies embedded in NGC 6820. The field is yellowed by the interstellar dust reddening distant objects.<br />
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This is a blend of filtered and unfiltered stacks: 18 x 6-minutes at ISO 2500 through the IDAS NB1 dual narrowband filter, and 16 x 3-minutes at ISO 1000 with no filter, all through the SharpStar 61 EDPHII apo refractor at f/4.6 with its reducer/flattener, and with the red-sensitive Canon Ra, all on the Star Adventurer GTi mount/tracker, autoguided with the Lacerta MGENIII autoguider, taken as part of testing the mount. No darks or LENR applied here, but the autoguider applied some dithering offset between each frame, to cancel out thermal noise hot pixels when the sub-frames were aligned and stacked. Taken Sept. 24/25, 2022 from home in Alberta on a very clear cool night. <br />
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Shooting and then blending filtered with unfiltered shots provides the best of both worlds: the reddish nebulosity set in a sky preserving natural coloured stars and background tints. Nebulosity was brought out with DM1 and DM2 luminosity masks created with the Lumenzia plug-in panel for Photoshop. Finishing touches with a Paint Contrast layer added with TK Actions panel, and a mild application of the Nebula Filter from the PhotoKemi action set both boosted the nebulosity a bit more. <br />
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All stacking, aligning and blending done in Adobe Photoshop.
    M27 and NGC 6820 Area (SS61 Ra).jpg
  • This is the complex of nebulosity that has become known as the Cosmic Question Mark, a good name as its official designations are confusing. <br />
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The top arc is usually labelled as NGC 7822, and the middle region as Cederblad (Ced) 214. However, some charts and references label Ced214 as NGC 7822, as it is brighter and might have been the object William Herschel saw when amassing observations in the 18th century for his General Catalogue, in which he describes NGC 7822 as "eeF! and eeL!," meaning really really faint and large! The little "dot" of the question mark is the faint and photographic-only nebula Sharpless 2-170, surrounding a little cluster Stock 18 .<br />
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The field is embedded in dust, indicated by the brownish-yellow tint of the background sky at centre, contrasting with the dust-free bluish starfields at top and bottom. Even the star clusters are yellowed, notably King 11 at top right and NGC 7762 embedded in the nebula at right above the bright star. The loose and sparse cluster Berkeley 59 lies embedded in Ced 214.. <br />
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Most of the field lies in Cepheus but the lower bits of Ced214 and Sharpless 2-170 lie across the border in Cassiopeia. <br />
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This is a blend of filtered and unfiltered stacks: 10 x 8-minutes at ISO 3200 through the IDAS NB1 dual narrowband filter, and 10 x 4-minutes at ISO 1600 with no filter, all through the SharpStar 61 EDPHII apo refractor at f/4.6 with its reducer/flattener, and with the red-sensitive Canon Ra, all on the Star Adventurer GTi mount/tracker, autoguided with the Lacerta MGENIII autoguider, taken as part of testing the mount. No darks or LENR applied here, but the autoguider applied some dithering offset between each frame, to largely cancel out thermal noise hot pixels when the sub-frames were aligned and stacked. Taken Sept. 21/22, 2022 from home in Alberta on a very clear cool night. <br />
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Shooting and then blending filtered with unfiltered shots provides the best of both worlds: lots of reddish nebulosity set in a sky with natural
    NGC 7822 and Ced214 (SS61 Ra).jpg
  • The main complex of nebulosity in Cygnus, taken with a telephoto lens taking in a wide field of 15° by 10°. <br />
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At left is the brightest nebula in the region, NGC 7000, or the North America Nebula, left of the bright blue star Deneb. Between Deneb and the North America is the Pelican Nebula, IC 5067. At bottom right is the complex around Gamma Cygni catalogued as IC 1318. But there are lots of other arcs and patches of nebulosity here, such as Sharpless 2-119 at far left and Sharpless 2-115 at top. The small Crescent Nebula, NGC 6888, is just in frame at lower right. The star cluster NGC 6866 is at the right edge of the frame. The dark nebula known as the Northern Coalsack is at centre below Deneb. The yellowish region above and to the left of IC 1318 seems to be the little star clusters Bica 1 and 2. The colourful triple star Omicon Cygni is at upper right. <br />
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This is a blend of filtered and unfiltered stacks: 10 x 2 minutes at ISO 800 with no filter, and 6 x 2 minutes at ISO 1250 with a NISI Natural Night filter on the lens, the Canon EF135mm at f/2.8 on the Canon Ra camera, all on the Star Adventurer GTi mount/tracker (tracked but unguided) and taken as part of testing the mount on its first night under the stars. Taken from home on a very clear night Sept. 20, 2022. Nebulosity brought out with luminosity masks created with the Lumenzia panel for Photoshop and a mild application of the Nebula Filter action from the PK action set for Photoshop. Dew on the filter prevented me from using more filtered frames taken at the end of the shoot.
    Cygnus Nebulosity (135mm Ra).jpg
  • A framing of some of the main star clusters (and some nebulas) in Cassiopeia and Perseus. <br />
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At left are the Heart and Soul Nebulas in Cassiopeia, aka IC 1805 and IC 1848 respectively, plus the smaller and more intense patch of nebulosity NGC 896. With these nebulas are the star clusters NGC 1027 and Mel 15. At bottom is the famous Double Cluster, NGCs 884 and 869. The small cluster NGC 957 is to the left of the Double Cluster. At upper right below the line joining the two bright stars in Cassiopeia is the prominent star cluster NGC 663, with NGC 654 above and M103 to the right. The reddened object left of NGC 663 is the cluster IC 166. At far right is NGC 457, the ET Cluster. <br />
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This is a stack of 15 x 2-minute tracked but unguided exposures with the Canon EF135mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon Ra at ISO 1250, with a NISI Natural Night broadband filter on the lens to enhance the nebulosity. Taken from home on a very clear night September 20, 2022. Taken with the Star Adventurer GTi tracker/equatorial mount as part of testing the mount.
    Cassiopeia & Perseus Clusters (1...jpg