Brrrrrr!

This photo composition is made of sixteen photos sewn together in Photoshop to achieve the extra wide angle needed to show the night sky from north to south. The original is a massive file and reveals many stars and constellations. Even in this small sample a discerning eye may be able to pick out Perseus and Cassiopeia to the left and the tail of Scorpius with red supergiant Antares over the lights of Fairmont Hot Springs in the south. Scorpius only rises once Orion is down and promises the coming of summer.

A few welcome days off in a row. Willow and I figured we would sample the chilly temperatures. We headed out at 3 in the morning to see if we could catch the return of The Milky Way.

The Milky Way rising over Nutmuq¢in (Chisel Peak).

So far we have had a mild winter and perhaps we have grown soft because -28°c felt colder than expected. Granted fumbling barehanded with a metal camera doesn’t help. Willow looked at me like I was crazy and was happy to make it back to the truck and a blasting heater.

The Milky Way was rising but the centre stays below the mountains before dawn washed the stars away. Still a wonderful viewing morning with the young moon long down refusing to interfere with the brilliance of stars.

The afternoon sun warming Jake and Dave.

That afternoon we met with good buddies Dave, Jake and Chewy for a bout of ice fishing. By then it had warmed to a much more comfortable -16°c. We picked a spot near the shallow south end of Lake Windermere, chosen for it’s distance from the ruck of the crowd. Unfortunately the fish didn’t feel the same, choosing instead to occupy the deeper portions nearer the outlet.

Willow looking for fish.

Still, it was refreshing enjoying the lake. Jake drilled his own hole in the almost 2 feet of thick ice. The dogs ran this way and that. Very fine day.

Willow criticizing my lack of fishing skill.

10 thoughts on “Brrrrrr!”

  1. larry

    Willow is funny and I am still amazed that she can withstand the cold, thinking of my two, Nicky on a bare sidewalk complains of the cold, his paws get cold. Nora not so much she is tougher.
    Great sky picture as always. Both Nick and Nora will be 13 yrs old this week and next.

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    1. underswansea

      So Nick and Nora have been training you for 13 years now. They seem very content, they must be happy the way you have learned to serve them. 🙂 I say that because sometimes I think Willow has me trained instead of the other way around. Take care. Bob

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  2. Carol A. Hand

    Amazing star views, Bob, and lovely picture of the sun. It’s hard to imagine that ice is 2 feet thick during a mild winter, although I can relate to -28 C. It was about the same here this morning (-20 F), with a windchill of -42 F. Can’t wait until later this week when the daytime high will be a balmy zero (-17.7 C).

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      1. mountaincoward

        It is the damp which is bad here and does make it feel horrendous. We actually had very cold but dry and sunny weather last week and it didn’t seem anything like as bad but was definitely colder than it had been in January.

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    1. underswansea

      Thanks Julie! I actually lied in that post. I did the sewing of the panorama in Lightroom and then did colour correction and cropping in Photoshop. Lightroom is a great program – have you used it? Take care. Bob

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      1. Julie@frogpondfarm

        Ha ha told porkies did you? Yes I sure do use Lightroom .. love it! Not up to scratch with PS though .. the layers get me every time. I had no idea that you could see a panorama in LR! Clever you 🙂

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