Category: Photography

Bright objects in the night sky — Part V

I expect that this will be my last chance to photograph the Moon with Venus and Jupiter before they move away from each other. The two planets are drawing away from each other each day from their closest point on March 12 and 13.

The Moon and planet Venus as seen in the middle of the afternoon.
The Moon and planet Venus as seen in the middle of the afternoon.

Venus has been bright enough to be visible in the sky during the day IF you know where to look. That’s not easy. But today the crescent moon — which IS easy to see — was very close to Venus. So, find the Moon and find Venus. This image was taken mid afternoon on a beautiful early spring day in northern Arizona.

The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter in the twilight sky over the Kachina Wetlands...with ducks.
The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter in the twilight sky over the Kachina Wetlands…with ducks.

After sunset the triangle of Venus, Jupiter, and Mars put on quite a show over the reflective waters of the Kachina Wetlands near Flagstaff, Arizona. The ducks had just recently alighted on the waters for the evening and their trails through the water are easily visible.

The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter in the twilight sky over the Kachina Wetlands.
The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter in the twilight sky over the Kachina Wetlands.

And as the sky darkened the triplet shone even more brightly above the now quiet water.

Thinly sliced snow

A major winter storm dropped anywhere from one to two feet of snow in the Flagstaff area this weekend. The mountains got even more with some areas reporting more than four feet of new snow.

Thinly sliced snow.
Thinly sliced snow.

Deep snow was sitting on this table and set of chairs in front of one of my favorite coffee shops — the Kickstand Kafe. The weight of the snow was pushing the snow below it through the vertical bars of the chair back resulting in thinly sliced snow.

Bright objects in the night sky — Part IV

A few nights ago I had an opportunity to take a tour of the telescopes operated by Lowell Observatory at the Anderson Mesa Station. I’ve driven and biked onto the mesa top many times over the years and often wished that I would have an opportunity to tour the telescope domes. Finally!

The 72-inch Perkins Telescope at the Lowell Obervatory Anderson Mesa Station.
The 72-inch Perkins Telescope at the Lowell Obervatory Anderson Mesa Station.

We were taken into the 72-inch Perkins Telescope for a brief visit. There were ongoing experiments and data collection so we were limited in what we could visit. Still, this was a nice, large telescope and worth seeing. This was followed by a longer visit to the smaller 42-inch John Hall Telescope where we were treated to observing the research staff collect photographic images of Comet 49P/Arend-Rigaux.

The 42-inch John Hall Telescope.
The 42-inch John Hall Telescope.

Afterwards, I set up my tripod and camera for yet another image of the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. The closest approach of the two planets occurred a few days ago and they are now moving apart.

Venus and Jupiter shine brightly above the telescope dome at the Lowell Observatory Anderson Mesa Station.
Venus and Jupiter shine brightly above the telescope dome at the Lowell Observatory Anderson Mesa Station.

In a little over a week the new crescent moon will once again move near the two planets providing another interesting photo opportunity.

Dramatic lenticular clouds above the Kachina Peaks

A strong cold front and upper-level low was rapidly approaching Arizona. Ahead of this weather disturbance these spectacular lenticular clouds developed over the Kachina Peaks during the night of 03/06/2012. As the sun rose in the morning the clouds were nicely illuminated. About an hour after sunrise atmospheric conditions began to change and the wave clouds became more diffuse and detached from the peaks and drifted downstream.

Dramatic wave clouds above the Kachina Peaks.
Dramatic wave clouds above the Kachina Peaks.

Here is a video clip showing the wave clouds. The original clip is 40m40s long. The clip shown here has been sped up by a factor of 200x so the time lapse now occurs in around 12 seconds.

Bright objects in the night sky — Part III

Venus and Jupiter continue to shine brightly in the western twilight sky each evening. The two planets have been converging and will be closest on the evenings of March 12 and 13 when they will have an angular separation of only three degrees (about the same as six moon diameters).

 

Conjunction of Jupiter, Venus, and the ISS over the Kachina Wetlands near Flagstaff, Arizona.
Conjunction of Jupiter, Venus, and the ISS over the Kachina Wetlands near Flagstaff, Arizona.

On the evening of 01 March 2012 the International Space Station (ISS) made an evening transit low in the western sky. Its track placed it just below the planetary pair resulting in a great photographic opportunity. Shooting a total of six 30s exposures captured the ISS rising from the low hills to its high point just below the planets then moving into the southwestern sky. The 1st-quarter moon provided more than enough light to brighten up the scenery of the Kachina Wetlands with reflections of the planets visible in the water.