Venus and the Pleiades star cluster are prominent in the center of the image while Mercury is about to set in the low gap. The zodiacal light is also faintly visible.
Upper Lake Mary, Flagstaff, Arizona; 10 April 2023.
Next week the crescent Moon will join the group.
It’s been very warm the past few days but just a week ago we had several cool days and very cold nights. While hiking up the popular Boynton Canyon in the Red Rocks–Secret Mount Wilderness near Sedona we encountered this wonderful ice sculpture. It was located just a few steps off the trail–but not visibile from the trail–and under an overhang where the water dripped down and froze on the bush. I’m certain by the afternoon it had melted.
Last week we did a trail run on Scheurman Mountain using several trails to create a loop of the mountain. Along the way, the trail crosses a shallow canyon which often has running water.
With warmer temperatures it won’t be long until this running water is only a memory.
On a warm day a few weeks ago we traveled down to the lower elevations and visited Agua Fria National Monument. We wanted to see if there were many wildflowers (there were) and to see the high water moving down the Agua Fria River.
With the warm weatherand rapid snow melt experienced this week in Flagstaff it might not be too long before we see wildflowers blooming here.
There have been multiple opportunities to photograph planets and other objects in the evening sky during the month of March. Previously I posted photos of four planets and an asteroid in the western sky during twilight using a 24mm wide angle lens.
I tried to capture the four planets again later in the month but was foiled by the bright twilight making it difficult to see the planets that were close to the horizon. So I shifted my strategy and chose to capture just two planets–Venus and Uranus–that were close to each other and high enough above the horizon to not be troubled by twilight. These images were shot with my Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E lens.
I then turned the camera on the Orion Nebula (M42) to see how well this lens would work on long exposures. The results weren’t too bad–but not great. It will take some practice on my part to get sharp focus and reduce shake and vibration on the tripod and star tracker.