Since I arrived in Alberta I have been waiting for the opportunity to photograph the Aurora Borealis. I have been wanting to try and photograph them for years, but we are still a few years from solar max, so the night sky has been pretty quiet.
I had signed up for auroral activity email alerts to let me know when they may be visible and it paid off. Friday night at about 11:00 PM I checked my email and saw the possibility of aurora so I checked some space weather sites (Canadian Space Weather www.spaceweather.gc.ca/forecastmap_e.php and www.spaceweather.com) and saw that the sky show was on!
(the auroral activity ring that night)
I quickly packed up my tripod, camera, some warm clothes and headed off to a friends farm. I knew he was a poor shot so I would be safe walking around behind his house. I spent a couple hours out getting pictures from different locations. That time of night it is very quiet except for the distant howling of the coyotes.
Usually I was taking 30 second exposures and the camera would do a noise reduction for another 30 seconds. So I had a lot of very quiet minutes to just watch and contemplate God's beautiful creation and thank him for the opportunity to witness it.
After awhile the auroral display started to calm down to just a dim green glow so I packed it in and was home around 2:30 AM. Late night, but definitely worth staying out.
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This reminded me of a time years ago when a co-worker of mine wanted me to inform her any time I saw the Northern Lights. One night I saw them so I headed out to some fields to watch the display. I called her up on the old style bag cell phone that I had in the car. It was a rather unreliable phone, but I was able to call her and let her know that the Northern Lights were visible. She had to stay home that night with the kids so she wasn't able to go out and see them. Jocelyn asked me to describe what I was seeing for her. I informed her that the aurora had calmed down a bit and was now just a green glow. After chatting for a bit I said "Oh wait, here come some features!" meaning that there was some interesting features and movement appearing in the sky. Unfortunately, the phone died.
More unfortunately, Jocelyn thought I had said "Oh wait, here come some creatures!" -- and then the line went dead. She had visions of something killing and eating me out on the marsh. She felt much better when I showed up alive and well the next day at work
If you would like to see more of that nights activity, go to my Northern Lights photography page.
Labels: astronomy, Photography
On the evening of February 20 we had a clear sky for the Lunar Eclipse. I haven't seen one in years as the last two I had opportunity to watch were clouded out, so this was a real treat. I was able to set up the telescope and camera to watch the event.
from wikipedia
A lunar eclipse is what happens when the Moon passes into the Earth's shadow. When that happens the Moon often turns red. If you were to stand on the surface of the moon during an eclipse and looked at the Earth, you would see a black disk (the Earth) surrounded by a ring of red. The red is the light from the sun passing through the atmosphere. The only light hitting the moon is the combined light of all the Earth's sunrises and sunsets.
Here are some of my photos as the moon disappears, is at totality (completely in Earth's shadow), and as it leaves the shadow.
_____________________________________________
from wikipedia
A lunar eclipse is what happens when the Moon passes into the Earth's shadow. When that happens the Moon often turns red. If you were to stand on the surface of the moon during an eclipse and looked at the Earth, you would see a black disk (the Earth) surrounded by a ring of red. The red is the light from the sun passing through the atmosphere. The only light hitting the moon is the combined light of all the Earth's sunrises and sunsets.
Here are some of my photos as the moon disappears, is at totality (completely in Earth's shadow), and as it leaves the shadow.
Labels: astronomy, Photography
Phases and thoughts of our earthly companion, the Moon.
[large] 1/13 sec, 300 mm, f11 on a Nikon D300
God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
- Genesis 1:16
[large] 1/125 sec, 300 mm, f5.6 on a Nikon D300
The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
- 1 Corinthians 15:41
[large] 1/200 sec at 300mm f7.1 on a D300
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
- Psalm 136:1-9_____________________________________________
[large] 1/13 sec, 300 mm, f11 on a Nikon D300
God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
- Genesis 1:16
[large] 1/125 sec, 300 mm, f5.6 on a Nikon D300
The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
- 1 Corinthians 15:41
[large] 1/200 sec at 300mm f7.1 on a D300
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
- Psalm 136:1-9
Labels: astronomy, Photography
December 21 marks the the shortest day of the year for the northern hemisphere. Each day has slowly been getting shorter until this point. So look on the bright side (pun intended), while the days get colder for the next few months, they are getting longer too!
When I first considered moving to Olds 7 years ago to get to know Naomi better and convince her to marry me I didn't realize how far north it was compared to my home in southern New Brunswick. I packed my telescope along thinking I would be able to take advantage of the clear Alberta sky during the summer of 2001.
I arrived in late May as the sun was getting near it's highest and the days their longest. We were tired after a long drive, but we all thought that it was much too early to go to bed as the sky was still very bright. Finally someone looked at their watch and we realized that it was 10:30 and promptly headed off to bed.
I never actually used the telescope that summer as I discovered that the sky doesn't get truly dark this far north during the summer. The sun stayed up much later and even going outside at 1:00 AM the sky is still a dark blue, with the sun not far below the horizon. I could see maybe a few dozen stars..
Of course the opposite was true in the winter, but it gets much colder here too! During that winter I worked in a bakery and often would not see the sun all week. I would come to work before the sun came up and went home in the dark. My co-workers went for frequent smoke breaks, so they would see the sun, but it was also -20 C, and I didn't go outside just for fun.
Olds, AB:
Elevation 902 m
For June 21, longest day of the year
Morning twilight: 4:24 (make sure you blinds are closed!)
Sunrise: 5:14
Sunset: 10:00
Evening twilight: 10:49
Daylight hours: 16 hrs, 46 min
For Dec 21, shortest day of the year
Morning twilight: 8:01
Sunrise: 8:42
Sunset: 16:25
Evening twilight: 17:06
Daylight hours: 7 hrs, 42 min
Owen Sound, ON:
Elevation 222 m
For June 21
Morning twilight: 5:01
Sunrise: 5:38
Sunset: 9:13
Evening twilight: 9:50
Daylight hours: 15 hrs, 35 min
For Dec 21
Morning twilight: 7:25
Sunrise: 7:58
Sunset: 16:46
Evening twilight: 17:20
Daylight hours: 8 hrs, 47 min
Sackville, NB:
Elevation 24 m
For June 21
Morning twilight: 4:48
Sunrise: 5:27
Sunset: 9:13
Evening twilight: 9:52
Daylight hours: 15 hrs, 46 min
For Dec 21
Morning twilight: 7:23
Sunrise: 7:58
Sunset: 16:35
Evening twilight: 17:10
Daylight hours: 8 hrs, 37 min
During the summer Olds gets an hour more sunlight than my hometown of Sackville (good), and in the winter an hour less (bad). Gee.. I would really hate to live in a place like Yellowknife.._____________________________________________
When I first considered moving to Olds 7 years ago to get to know Naomi better and convince her to marry me I didn't realize how far north it was compared to my home in southern New Brunswick. I packed my telescope along thinking I would be able to take advantage of the clear Alberta sky during the summer of 2001.
I arrived in late May as the sun was getting near it's highest and the days their longest. We were tired after a long drive, but we all thought that it was much too early to go to bed as the sky was still very bright. Finally someone looked at their watch and we realized that it was 10:30 and promptly headed off to bed.
I never actually used the telescope that summer as I discovered that the sky doesn't get truly dark this far north during the summer. The sun stayed up much later and even going outside at 1:00 AM the sky is still a dark blue, with the sun not far below the horizon. I could see maybe a few dozen stars..
Of course the opposite was true in the winter, but it gets much colder here too! During that winter I worked in a bakery and often would not see the sun all week. I would come to work before the sun came up and went home in the dark. My co-workers went for frequent smoke breaks, so they would see the sun, but it was also -20 C, and I didn't go outside just for fun.
Olds, AB:
Elevation 902 m
For June 21, longest day of the year
Morning twilight: 4:24 (make sure you blinds are closed!)
Sunrise: 5:14
Sunset: 10:00
Evening twilight: 10:49
Daylight hours: 16 hrs, 46 min
For Dec 21, shortest day of the year
Morning twilight: 8:01
Sunrise: 8:42
Sunset: 16:25
Evening twilight: 17:06
Daylight hours: 7 hrs, 42 min
Owen Sound, ON:
Elevation 222 m
For June 21
Morning twilight: 5:01
Sunrise: 5:38
Sunset: 9:13
Evening twilight: 9:50
Daylight hours: 15 hrs, 35 min
For Dec 21
Morning twilight: 7:25
Sunrise: 7:58
Sunset: 16:46
Evening twilight: 17:20
Daylight hours: 8 hrs, 47 min
Sackville, NB:
Elevation 24 m
For June 21
Morning twilight: 4:48
Sunrise: 5:27
Sunset: 9:13
Evening twilight: 9:52
Daylight hours: 15 hrs, 46 min
For Dec 21
Morning twilight: 7:23
Sunrise: 7:58
Sunset: 16:35
Evening twilight: 17:10
Daylight hours: 8 hrs, 37 min
During the summer Olds gets an hour more sunlight than my hometown of Sackville (good), and in the winter an hour less (bad). Gee.. I would really hate to live in a place like Yellowknife..
Ellie likes to look at the Moon and if we are outside while the Moon is visible she gets very excited and points it out to us. She recently got her first look through one of daddy's telescopes at an almost full moon.
This is what we saw. I took this by holding my Nikon D-70 up to the eyepiece of the telescope. Not an ideal way for sure.. but for a very bright object like the moon it can work.
(click images for a larger view)
This past weekend was the annual Perseid meteor shower. Every August 11-12 is the peak of the shower where the Earth passes through the dust cloud left by comet Swift-Tuttle. This year it was also a year without the moon shining, making for a nice dark sky. It is also the only "warm" meteor shower as it is in August.
I wanted to try to get some photos of this event. Naomi and I went outside around 11:30 PM on Sunday night and I stayed out until about 2:30 AM. It was very enjoyable and we saw many good meteors, sometimes seeing two or three a minute. God's creation is amazing!
Unfortunately, I had the ISO turned down too low on my camera to really capture many on the night of the shower's peak. I only got one of good shot of a meteor flash in the sky. I tried again the next night and saw many more meteors, but only a few happened to go where my camera was pointed.. oh well. Who needs sleep?
Meteoroid: a small object in space, usually from the size of sand up to a boulder.
Meteor: said object hitting our atmosphere. Most meteors that we see in the sky are a the size of a grain of sand or smaller.
Meteorite: one of those objects that has made it through the atmosphere to hit the ground.
I actually own two meteorites. I wish I could say that I witnessed a dramatic bright streak in the sky and followed it to the impact crater where I discovered the meteorite fragments. Instead I found them in a cardboard box with silly trinkets at an auction.
I was waiting for something else to come up that I wanted to bid on so I was poking around looking at some boxes of junk when I discovered a couple of rocks. I was curious as to why their previous owner had wanted to keep these rocks and why they ended up in a box of trinkets. Upon further examination, I saw several tell-tale features of meteorites: fusion crust, "thumb prints" (the large hole), signs of melting, slight magnatisim, and an unusual weight for small stones. I then hovered over the box until it came up for bid. There was no bidding war, and I picked up two meteorites (and some junk) for $1. An elderly gentleman wanted one of the trinkets I was going to toss and paid me $2 for it! So I actually made a buck!
Labels: astronomy, Photography
I love taking photos of many different things in nature. Sometimes I combine it with one of my other interests: astronomy!
Another picture of the lower half of Orion with the even larger blue giant star, Rigel, in the lower right:
How large are these stars? Watch this video for a hint of their mind-boggling size
I went out the other night to get a picture of the sky just after sunset. Venus was quite bright in the twilight sky.
Venus in the Trees
Taurus and the Pleiades are visible in this night shot. So is the orange sky-glow from the city of Owen Sound..
[click the image to see more details]
God's creation above keeps me looking up._____________________________________________
The other night at astronomy club the presentation was about beginner astrophotography. You don't need that fancy telescope to get some pictures of the beautiful night sky. This 26 second exposure of part of the Orion constellation was done by taking the picture more out of focus every few seconds. Most people don't realize that stars come in many different colours. This picture really highlights the red colour of Betelgeuse, a red giant star that is up to 800 times the size of our own Sun! [This picture is best viewed large]
Another picture of the lower half of Orion with the even larger blue giant star, Rigel, in the lower right:
How large are these stars? Watch this video for a hint of their mind-boggling size
____________________________
I went out the other night to get a picture of the sky just after sunset. Venus was quite bright in the twilight sky.
Venus in the Trees
Taurus and the Pleiades are visible in this night shot. So is the orange sky-glow from the city of Owen Sound..
[click the image to see more details]
God's creation above keeps me looking up.
Labels: astronomy, Photography
Tonight I found an interesting slideshow that shows the relative size of the earth and other planets to progressively larger objects.
When you think of the Earth, it just seems incredibly huge, yet it as nothing compared to the Sun, yet that is as nothing compared to a giant star like Rigel, yet that is as nothing compared to a supergiant star like Antares, yet that is as nothing compared to VV Cephei, yet that is as nothing compared to our Milky Way Galaxy, yet that is as nothing compared to a cluster or supercluster of galaxies, yet that is as nothing compared to the Universe, yet that is nothing compared to God!
View the slideshow
You are small Part I_____________________________________________
When you think of the Earth, it just seems incredibly huge, yet it as nothing compared to the Sun, yet that is as nothing compared to a giant star like Rigel, yet that is as nothing compared to a supergiant star like Antares, yet that is as nothing compared to VV Cephei, yet that is as nothing compared to our Milky Way Galaxy, yet that is as nothing compared to a cluster or supercluster of galaxies, yet that is as nothing compared to the Universe, yet that is nothing compared to God!
View the slideshow
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. Psalms 19:1,2
You are small Part I
I found these pictures on another website.. no idea where they originally came from.
#1 The Earth and other "rocky" planets.
click for larger image
The Earth is the largest of the four inner planets (and much larger than Pluto). Think about how large our world seems to us.
#2 The Gas Giants
The Earth is tiny compared to even the smallest of the gas giants. Our planet is even 2 or 3 times smaller than the Great Red Spot, a storm on Jupiter that has been going for more than 400 years. Jupiter is the largest of these planets. It is so large that you could fit all the other planets and their many moons inside it. Jupiter "is 318 times more massive than Earth, with a diameter 11 times that of Earth, and with a volume 1300 times that of Earth." - Wikipedia
#3 The Sun
As large as it is, Jupiter is tiny compared to the Sun. The Earth is but a speck. I am less than that.
_____________________________________________
#1 The Earth and other "rocky" planets.
click for larger imageThe Earth is the largest of the four inner planets (and much larger than Pluto). Think about how large our world seems to us.
#2 The Gas Giants
The Earth is tiny compared to even the smallest of the gas giants. Our planet is even 2 or 3 times smaller than the Great Red Spot, a storm on Jupiter that has been going for more than 400 years. Jupiter is the largest of these planets. It is so large that you could fit all the other planets and their many moons inside it. Jupiter "is 318 times more massive than Earth, with a diameter 11 times that of Earth, and with a volume 1300 times that of Earth." - Wikipedia
#3 The Sun
As large as it is, Jupiter is tiny compared to the Sun. The Earth is but a speck. I am less than that.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:3,4
Stated so matter-of-factly that in creating the little things here on Earth, God also created the beautiful and imcomprehensibly huge heavens above.
Last night I spent some time out observing this footnote of creation with my telescope. It was an wonderfully clear and steady night. The Cassini division in the rings of Saturn were easily seen, along with other features of the great ringed planet.
(Click for larger image. Constelations from left to right: Canis Major, Orion, Taurus the bull)
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:3,4_____________________________________________
Last night I spent some time out observing this footnote of creation with my telescope. It was an wonderfully clear and steady night. The Cassini division in the rings of Saturn were easily seen, along with other features of the great ringed planet.
(Click for larger image. Constelations from left to right: Canis Major, Orion, Taurus the bull)
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:3,4
