Category: Photography

Some Interesting Wave Clouds

For a few hours this morning (02 July 2020) the clouds were amazing. Laminar, wave-like clouds were visible across a portion of the sky and moving quickly to the north. Farther south, the sky remained clear. These clouds were apparently forming in a region of orographic uplift generated by the Mogollon Rim.

Wave clouds over Flagstaff.
Wave clouds over Flagstaff.
Wave clouds over Flagstaff.
Wave clouds over Flagstaff.
Wave clouds over Flagstaff.
Wave clouds over Flagstaff.

But these clouds weren’t actually a surprise. Yesterdays models were forecasting a thin layer of moisture around 700 mb with much drier conditions both above and below that level.

Observed sounding from KFGZ at 1200 UTC 02 July 2020
Observed sounding from KFGZ at 1200 UTC 02 July 2020
24-hour forecast sounding for KFLG for 1200 UTC 02 July 2020
24-hour forecast sounding for KFLG for 1200 UTC 02 July 2020

The GFS did a good job of forecasting both the thin layer of moisture and the stronger winds embedded in that layer. But where did those stronger winds and moisture originate?

HYSPLIT backward trajectories.
HYSPLIT backward trajectories.

A look back using backward trajectories from the HYSPLIT model reveals some interesting origins. Higher-level air parcels originated over the northeast Pacific while low-level parcels originated over the eastern Pacific. The water vapor satellite images shows both of these source regions to be very dry.

Water vapor satellite image from 1200 UTC 29 June 2020.
Water vapor satellite image from 1200 UTC 29 June 2020.

The moist layer had its origins along the Mexico coast. The water vapor image shows substantial moisture associated with Tropical Depression FOUR-E.

Tropical depression FOUR-E.
Tropical depression FOUR-E.

So the shallow mid-level moist layer had its origins in the remnants of a tropical disturbance. Very interesting!

North America Nebula and Pelican Nebula

The North America Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. It resembles the North America continent with both a Florida-like peninsula and a Gulf of Mexico. It’s a fairly bright object with a magnitude of +4.0 making it an easy object to photograph with a telephoto lens. This image was captured with a Nikon 180mm AIS ƒ/2.8 telephoto.

Adjacent to the North America Nebula is the Pelican Nebula separated by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust.

North America Nebula and Pelican Nebula
North America Nebula and Pelican Nebula
Annotated image of North America Nebula and Pelican Nebula
Annotated image of North America Nebula and Pelican Nebula

Images were stacked using Starry Sky Stacker. The stack was histogram stretched using rnc_color_stretch. The final bit of work was done using the Astronomy Tools actions for Photoshop.

Reflections at Pomeroy Tanks

A few weeks ago, we chose to run the Sycamore Rim Trail. Our start location was the Pomeroy Tanks trailhead. From there we headed in a clockwise direction and reached our turnaround spot on the top of KA Hill.

Lily pads and reflections at Pomeroy Tanks, Sycamore Rim Trail.
Lily pads and reflections at Pomeroy Tanks, Sycamore Rim Trail.

We reversed our direction and once again passed by Pomeroy Tanks but kept going for another mile to Sycamore Falls. Alas, the falls were dry and no water was flowing down the stream. But back at Pomeroy Tanks there was water and still some flow through the numerous pools. It was very picturesque but it was now late morning and all I had was a camera phone.

A potential swimming hole at Pomeroy Tanks, Sycamore Rim Trail.
A potential swimming hole at Pomeroy Tanks, Sycamore Rim Trail.
Pomeroy Tanks, Sycamore Rim Trail.
Pomeroy Tanks, Sycamore Rim Trail.

We decided to return a few days later and to shoot photos in the early morning light. The pools were still mostly in deep shadows at this early hour. And, since it had been a cold night, there was still a touch of frost on the abundant grasses around the pools.

With calm winds the surfaces of the pools were like a mirror reflecting the deep blue sky. It was worth the return trip.

An Early-Season Bike Ride to the Inner Basin

A week ago we rode our mountain bikes up Waterline Road to the Inner Basin of the San Francisco Peaks. We were expecting to run into snow so we were not surprised when we did. Most of the snow was easily bypassed — as seen in the photographs below. But not all of it. Just below Jack Spring and the Inner Basin shelter we encountered deeper snow that required us to push our bikes.

Inner Basin and Fremont Peak.
Inner Basin and Fremont Peak.
There's still plenty of snow in the Inner Basin.
There’s still plenty of snow in the Inner Basin.
Mountain biking down the Waterline Road.
Mountain biking down the Waterline Road.

And above the Inner Basin shelter there was quite a bit of snow. More pushing through spring snow conditions to the wide-open expanses of the Inner Basin. Looking at the face of Fremont Peak (Arizona’s third highest mountain) I could see recent ski tracks. It would have been fun to see the skier(s) who put in these turns.

 

Venus and Pleiades Conjunction—April 2020

During the first few days of April 2020 the planet Venus moved towards and then through the Pleiades star cluster. Venus and Pleiades have a conjunction every year but every eight years the conjunction is at its closest. This year, Venus moved right through the star cluster.

Conjunction of Venus and Pleiades
Conjunction of Venus and Pleiades

I shot images of Venus and Pleiades on three nights: 01 April, 03 April, and 05 April. Venus and Pleiades were closest on the night of 03 April. I then did a composite image of the three nights showing the progression of Venus past the star cluster. These were all shot at 8 seconds, f/4, 180mm, and ISO 800.

Additionally, I overlaid another image taken 13 February 2020. This is a stacked composite with 11 images shot at 120 seconds, f/4, 180mm, and ISO 1600. The images were stacked using Starry Sky Stacker. The stack was then post-processed using rnc_color_stretch. This composite image was used because it shows the nebulosity and color within the Pleiades better than the shorter exposures captured that show the motion of Venus.

Composite image of Venus and Pleiades.
Composite image of Venus and Pleiades.

The image above shows the composite from the three nights without the additional layer showing the nebulosity.