The planet Venus has been quickly rising higher in the sky each evening so that it approached Jupiter in a planetary conjunction.
Venus and Jupiter in November 2019.
Here are the planets Jupiter and Venus on the evenings of 22 November, 23 November, and 24 November—the evening of closest approach. In this 3-image composite Jupiter is held fixed and the daily motion of Venus is shown relative to the planet Jupiter.
The next image shows the two planets and their reflections in the waters of Lower Lake Mary.
Venus and Jupiter and their reflections in November 2019.
It was mid-October and that made it a good time to head to southwest Utah for some autumn mountain biking.
We left Flagstaff around 8:30 a.m. and arrived at the Wire Mesa Trailhead on Gooseberry Mesa about 4 hours later. After a quick lunch, we jumped on the Wire Mesa trail. Good news! They are upgrading the parking lot with a fence and possibly other amenities.
Riding the Wire Mesa Trail. That’s Zion N.P. in the distance.The view towards the southeast from Wire Mesa Trail.
This was our first time on Wire Mesa Trail. It’s a nice loop with some great views of Zion National Park and the cliffs of Gooseberry Mesa.
View over the edge of Gooseberry Mesa.
The next day we visited the Gooseberry Mesa trails, starting on Windmill, then North Rim and out to the west end of the mesa. This route wanders between the edge and then through ramps, chutes, small hills, all on a high-traction surface. The geologic name for this rock is Shinarump Conglomerate.
North Rim Trail, Gooseberry Mesa.Just follow the dots!Practice Trail, Gooseberry Mesa.
The return to the trail head included a quick jaunt on Yellow Trail. Great fun! We then returned to North Rim and connected with Practice Trail. The photos shown here are very similar to photos taken on earlier trips to this mountain biking area. See, for example, the trip reports for April 2015 and October 2016.
Amazing terrain on Gooseberry Mesa with Zion NP in the distance
We had planned on a third day of riding but instead opted to do some hiking in Zion National Park.
The weather was perfect with clear skies and light winds in northern Arizona to photograph the transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun.
Transit of Mercury—11 November 2019
From Wikipedia: “A transit of Mercury takes place when the planet Mercury passes directly (transits) between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Mercury appears as a tiny black dot moving across the disk of the Sun.”
Mercury is small so it is difficult to photograph a transit without using a telescope or large telephoto lens. I photographed the transit using a (1) full-frame Nikon DSLR and a 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, and (2) a Panasonic Lumix FZ150 “bridge camera” with a 600mm [equivalent] zoom. The Nikon takes vastly superior images; the Lumix has more zoom. And the better results came from the Lumix.
The photograph above shows the first image taken as the Sun had partially cleared the cliffs. Subsequent images were stacked and aligned on this image so that it shows a sequence of positions during the transit.
Transit of Mercury-09 May 2016.
The last transit of Mercury was 09 May 2016; the next will be 13 November 2032. The image above is from the 2016 transit.
Transit of Venus–05June 2012.
Transits of Venus are easier to capture because Venus is much larger than Mercury and also closer to Earth. The last two transits of Venus were 05 June 2012 and 08 June 2004. The next transits of Venus will not occur until 10–11 December 2117 and 8 December 2125. Above is an image of the 2012 transit with a bird also “transiting” the sun.
It was a dry summer (driest on record in Flagstaff) and autumn hasn’t been too wet, either. And, yet, the autumn colors have been good. Very good, even, with leaves staying on the trees well into mid- and late October.
In early October, the aspen were changing colors on the north side of the San Francisco Peaks.
North side of the San Francisco Peaks from FR 418. 10/08/2019.Aspen on the north side of the San Francisco Peaks. 10/08/2019.
A week later, the leaves had already peaked along Waterline Road and were falling from the trees and covering the road.
It’s been an unusual monsoon season across Arizona this year. After both a wet winter and wet spring—with above normal precipitation amounts all the way into the month of May—things went dry. The North American Monsoon started late this year with the first significant rainfall not arriving until the second half of July. This was unfortunate as the dryness partially contributed to a very damaging wildfire (Museum Fire) burning across portions of the San Francisco Peaks.
Just a few days later, the rains finally arrived. And, then, they stopped again. And it has been that way much of this monsoon season. A few days of rain, then a week or more of dry weather. A normal pattern would have rain falling perhaps four days out of seven for a two-month period. Folks around here have dubbed this monsoon the “nonsoon”.
And, of course, with the lack of moisture and thunderstorms opportunities for photographing storms, heavy rain, lightning, and sunsets has been a challenge. But it only takes one great photograph to make it a successful season. I’m still trying to get that photograph.
Here are some of the more interesting photographs from this “nonsoon monsoon” season.
The Museum Fire burns in the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff.A thunderstorm develops above the San Francisco Peaks as seen from the South Rim of Grand Canyon.Convection develops over the North Rim of Grand Canyon.Convection is reflected in the waters of Marshall Lake.A growing thunderstorm is reflected in Marshall Lake.The sun sets over Wupatki National Monument.Beams of light from the setting sun illuminate the landscape near Sedona.Lightning strikes in the distance behind Upper Lake Mary.Lightning on the North Rim of Grand Canyon.Twilight lightning in Wupatki National Monument.Lightning strikes near the confluence of Grand Canyon and Little Colorado River.
