Back in mid-February we did a trail run in Sedona using a combination of both designated and social trails. Early in the run we crossed these beautiful carved channels in the sandstone bed of Dry Creek. It had been a dry winter up until that point so there was no running water but still enough for a few pools that included reflections of the blue sky.
Channels carved into the sandstone of Dry Creek, Sedona, AZ.This is a composite of two photos. We each took a photo of the other then combined them. It works…
Farther along we passed this small reflecting pool. Since there were only the two of us the best we could do was to each take a photograph of the other running past the pool. A little bit of work in a photo app composited the two images and it looks like a real photograph!
Every year in February, Kahtoola sponsors the Kahtoola Uphill Race. The proceeds from this fun event go to Friends of Camp Colton. The race has several distances (1 mile, 600′ vertical; 3 miles, 1550′ vertical; 3.5 miles, 2200′ vertical) and categories (foot traction, skis, and splitboard). And, of course, costumes are encouraged.
Here are a few images taken of both the start of the race and as finishers return to the start.
The start of the Kahtoola Uphill Race.Racers head up the ski runs of Arizona Snowbowl as part of the Kahtoola Uphill Race. Lack of snow resulted in some changes to the course.Costumes encouraged.
These two images were taken a few months ago when the constellation Orion was in the eastern/southeastern sky. Both imaging sessions were tests of my recently acquired Nikon D850 and of the Siril software package.
Wide view of Orion and the surrounding Orion Molecular Dust Cloud.The Witch Head Nebula (IC 2118) near the constellation Orion.
The first was taken with a 50mm lens to show all of Orion as well as the neighboring features. The image is a stack of 32 frames @ 60 seconds, f4, ISO 1600, and shot on a Nikon D850. The images were processed in Siril–a tool I’m still learning to use–and the final result nicely shows the Orion molecular cloud complex (or, simply, the Orion complex). From the Wikipedia article:
The Orion complex includes a large group of bright nebulae and dark clouds in the Orion constellation. Several nebulae can be observed through binoculars and small telescopes, and some parts (such as the Orion Nebula) are visible to the naked eye.
The second image was taken a few nights later with a 180mm telephoto lens and is looking at the Witchhead Nebula (IC 2118), located very near Orion–and is also faintly visible in the previous image. This image is a stack of 38 frames @ 60 seconds, f4, ISO 1600, and shot on a Nikon D850. As before, the stack of images was processed in Siril. From Wikipedia:
IC 2118 is an extremely faint reflection nebula believed to be an ancient supernova remnant or gas cloud illuminated by nearby supergiant star Rigel in the constellation of Orion.
I have been happy with the results on the Nikon D850 for capturing astro images and equally pleased with how easy it is to use Siril in post processing.
For a brief period between sunset and astronomical twilight there were several planets visible in the evening sky. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter were all easily seen with the unaided eye. With a few seconds exposure, cameras easily resolved Uranus. Missing was Saturn which was so low in the sky that it was overpowered by the bright glare of early twilight.
Four planets (Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus) plus the crescent Moon during evening twilight.A zoomed-in crop to better show Uranus.
Here is an image with Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus, plus the Moon. Mars was too far to the east to be included even with this wide-angle lens. Also included is a zoomed-in crop of the original image to clearly show Uranus.
Multiple planets visible in the sky simultaneously is not a rare event. Rather, it happens on a regular basis. Here are links to other events that have been posted on this site.
There was another twilight rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Flight Base that provided a spectacular event visible in Arizona on Saturday evening. The sky was still fairly bright so it was difficult to capture the expanding rocket exhaust in the early moments of the flight. But as the sky eventually darkened I was fascinated by the twisting shapes of the rocket contrail and rocket-induced noctilucent clouds. It was dark enough at this point to shoot longer exposures and create a time-lapse video of the clouds. The colors were magnificent–and very similar to what might be observed from naturally occuring noctilucent clouds at higher latitudes.
Falcon 9 second stage ascends into low Earth orbit and leaves behind a brilliant plume. The tiny point of light trailing the 2nd stage is from the descending 1st stage.Falcon 9 second stage ascends into low Earth orbit and leaves behind a brilliant plume. The tiny point of light trailing the 2nd stage is from the descending 1st stage. Note, also, the laminar flow of the gases in the middle of the frame while a more turbulent flow is present in the lower right.
Here are a set of images showing the amazing and colorful noctilucent clouds.
As the sky darkens the noctilucent clouds become more visible.The colors become more dramatic in this view ~37 minutes after launch.Dramatic colors are present in this view ~45 minutes after launch.
Finally, a time-lapse video of the launch and wind-twisted noctilucent clouds.
Time-lapse video of the rocket launch and the wind-twisted noctilucent clouds.
The next launch on the schedule is NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH missions.
