Stars

An array of colours along the path of The Milky Way. This is ten photos stitched together in Adobe Lightroom. It spans from North to South looking East.

Tried again, this morning, to spot Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. This comet could be beyond Willow’s and my ability to track down. It is very close to the horizon beside the Andromeda Galaxy. By the time it rises above the mountains the sky is losing darkness. Also, we haven’t had super clear skies and the thickest haze is always closest to the horizon. That haze is in fact pollution. That’s why many cities have beautiful sunsets.

The moon as it appeared just after dark.

It is funny in a ridiculous way, our summers are filled with smoke from forest fires, now the spring and fall also has it’s share of smoke, as the provincial government and logging companies burn slash piles. Slash piles are all of the waste wood left over from clear cut logging. There is a lot of waste; branches, rotting wood, stumps, small trees, basically any mess the companies leave behind is pushed into piles and set ablaze.

The core of The Milky Way returns signalling spring and the coming summer. The green haze is a combination of haze, light pollution and maybe even some stardust. Lake Windermere still has its layer of winter ice.

It would be interesting to know if these C0 emissions are counted as industry emissions or if they get tabled under forest fire emissions. The latter not counted towards Canada’s yearly emission targets. Regardless, it is another case of the government saying one thing and doing another. The entire valley could drive around in Diesel Ford F350s for years and not emit the pollution that one of these massive slash piles produce.

I don’t think there is any big conspiracy involved, I just think government is incompetent in this regard.

This is how a panorama looks when I am stitching it together. This is ten individual photos taken left to right with overlap. This image is five frames wide and two frames high. The lens used was 20mm, which is wide, so a lot of the sky is captured. I did not do a very good job of keeping the bottom of the photo even. It can be difficult as it is dark and I can not see through the viewfinder, so it is done by feel. The bright lights in the distance is Invermere.

Comet Hunting

Perched above the Kootenay River. The clouds catching the coming dawn. Cassiopeia can be clearly seen above the clouds. A satellite streaks out of the frame on the left. But no comet.

Up early to try to find Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. The skies were sufficiently dark. Unfortunately there was a thin layer of cloud at the horizon extending into the area that would contain The Andromeda Galaxy and the comet.

As I had to go to work right after looking for the comet, Willow had to stay home. Now, if I am going to work she doesn’t make a peep. Somehow she knew I was going out in the bush and she was pissed off that I left without her. So much so that she awoke Lisa to complain of my impertinent gall to leave her behind.

Willow, minutes ago, barring the door, making sure she will not be forgotten again.

Clear

Looking down from the banks of Lake Windermere at an ice road heading to the lights of Invermere.

Finally a clear night in what has been a mild, overcast winter. Willow and I took a quick trip behind Swansea, stopping to see Mom and Dad before returning home.

It was good to look up at the winter stars. I was surprised to see how far they have drifted west since the last time Willow and I were under them. Spring is inching forward.

Away from light pollution. A keen eye can spot Orion, Gemini, The Beehive and Pleiades.

Conjunction

The moon and Venus looked great today next to each other in the morning sky. I have read the moon occulted Venus in the Southern Hemisphere. That would have been something to see. I was off to work before it got lighter which may have made for a better photo. Regardless, the clouds rolled in as dawn advanced.

Lisa popped out this morning when she saw a few Bohemian Waxwings feasting on the frozen berries. These birds will gather in large flocks and strip the trees of berries in no time, even getting drunk on the fermented fruit. It’s something to see!

Old Places

Places you feel good in. I’m a guy who doesn’t own anything. There is nothing I can call my own. The sky can be out or not. Up there the creek is always clear. Long ago I said to my father, ‘this is my creek’. He knew I didn’t mean it belonged to me, but I felt peace there. There were places he felt the same.

Lisa and I, along with Willow, spent the night up at the top of the creek, we went high where the water runs out at this time of year. We starred skyward and felt the spirits fly through our chests. Lisa counted the piles of bear shit, noted if they were fresh, she carried bear spray and a knife with a quick release. She pointed out cedar boughs in the darkness and asked if I could cut her a few.

A mountain Martin stood stiff, eyes glowing, curious at our intrusion. A large bull elk climbed a rock slide to stay clear of us. There is still enough of my self to quicken my heart and want to go after him. When young it is simple to kill. A pellet to a birds breast. Killing is easy, now older, I even have trouble pulling the trigger on plants in fall. My edge now is not killing.

This place can punch your heart and make you cry.

Falling Star, Jupiter, Pleiades.

A Perseid just misses Jupiter. Pleiades rises first, soon to be following are the winter stars. Orion comes up in dawn, before long it will rule the early dark skies. They will bring calm and quiet that seems sorely missing right now.

Perseids

After an evening nap Willow and I headed for the bush. We got out walked here and there, getting our bearings. It’s been awhile since we have been out at night looking skyward.

We were lucky to see several Perseid Meteors. Lucky as well to get a few pics.

Perseus, The Andromeda Galaxy and Cassiopea. The meteors didn’t cooperate for this photo. If I had’ve slipped into that creek Willow would have ran through bush and thicket down the mountain, following me to the Columbia River.

It was clear and the moon, waning into a thin crescent, stayed down until mid morning.

Hounds Tooth, The Milky Way and a bright Perseid.

We saw deer, an owl, porcupine and rabbits. Luckily Willow didn’t see the porcupines.

The second picture of the night captured a long Perseid Meteor.

I can’t see in the dark like I used to. If I was younger I’d give tonight another go. I don’t think last night was the peak.

We were out of the mountains and at work on time at 5:30 am. Willow slept in the truck.

A very fine night.

Luck

Hoping for clear skies. I will be heading into the bush shortly to spend the night looking for Perseids, with plans to go straight to work in the morning. It should be a short day. I’ll be bushed and Willow will have to hang out at work for awhile.

The moon is close to new so won’t come up until about 4am so won’t be a problem. As long as the clouds and smoke can hold off it could be good viewing.

Judging the peak can be a crap shoot, I’ve been lucky and not so on occasion. The trick is being out where you have the best chance of seeing them. I compare it to fishing. You never catch anything if you don’t put a hook in the water. The truth is, catching them is only a part of the fun.

***

Pulled some of the garlic today. It is Russian Red hardneck and looks good. Big bulbs that take up almost my entire palm.

The grasshoppers wanted no part of them. They were planted last October and had to be dislodged with a pitch fork and thoroughly shook to dislodge the soil.

Now I have to figure out what will be seed and what we can eat. Good gardeners say to save the biggest heads for seed.

It was a good year for garlic, despite the challenges the garden endured.

In the end, like most things, it comes down to luck. All you have to do is show up and put a line in the water.

Smoke

There is a forest fire burning close to us in Kootenay National Park. The fire is creating a lot of smoke and today it seemed to settle down into the valley bottom. It is not too bad and it could be much worse.

The sun came up red and set red. High in the sky it was a strange yellow that cast even hot light. I snapped the photo above a few minutes ago, hoping I would capture the sunspots. Smoke is an odd filter to use to photograph the sun, but it works.

The sunspot in the upper left is new, perhaps revealed as the sun rotates. It is called sunspot AR3372 and according to Spaceweather.com poses a threat for strong M-class solar flares.

The large sunspot in the lower middle of the frame is sunspot AR3363. These sunspots are much larger than earth.

There are also several other sunspots visible. The picture is not as sharp as I would like due to shooting, not only through smoke, but a few whispy clouds often prevalent near the horizon.

Palliser Pass

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Tag: astrophotography