Tag: Kachina Wetlands

Bright objects in the night sky — Part V

I expect that this will be my last chance to photograph the Moon with Venus and Jupiter before they move away from each other. The two planets are drawing away from each other each day from their closest point on March 12 and 13.

The Moon and planet Venus as seen in the middle of the afternoon.
The Moon and planet Venus as seen in the middle of the afternoon.

Venus has been bright enough to be visible in the sky during the day IF you know where to look. That’s not easy. But today the crescent moon — which IS easy to see — was very close to Venus. So, find the Moon and find Venus. This image was taken mid afternoon on a beautiful early spring day in northern Arizona.

The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter in the twilight sky over the Kachina Wetlands...with ducks.
The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter in the twilight sky over the Kachina Wetlands…with ducks.

After sunset the triangle of Venus, Jupiter, and Mars put on quite a show over the reflective waters of the Kachina Wetlands near Flagstaff, Arizona. The ducks had just recently alighted on the waters for the evening and their trails through the water are easily visible.

The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter in the twilight sky over the Kachina Wetlands.
The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter in the twilight sky over the Kachina Wetlands.

And as the sky darkened the triplet shone even more brightly above the now quiet water.

Bright objects in the night sky — Part III

Venus and Jupiter continue to shine brightly in the western twilight sky each evening. The two planets have been converging and will be closest on the evenings of March 12 and 13 when they will have an angular separation of only three degrees (about the same as six moon diameters).

 

Conjunction of Jupiter, Venus, and the ISS over the Kachina Wetlands near Flagstaff, Arizona.
Conjunction of Jupiter, Venus, and the ISS over the Kachina Wetlands near Flagstaff, Arizona.

On the evening of 01 March 2012 the International Space Station (ISS) made an evening transit low in the western sky. Its track placed it just below the planetary pair resulting in a great photographic opportunity. Shooting a total of six 30s exposures captured the ISS rising from the low hills to its high point just below the planets then moving into the southwestern sky. The 1st-quarter moon provided more than enough light to brighten up the scenery of the Kachina Wetlands with reflections of the planets visible in the water.

International Space Station transits

A few weeks ago we had a couple of nights in which the International Space Station (ISS) made some evening twilight transits that were visible across northern Arizona. The first night the ISS transited from the northwest across the sky to the east. As it swung across the evening sky it passed near Mizar in Ursa Major then near Polaris in Ursa Minor. The following night it traveled from west to southeast and passed near the Moon and Jupiter before it entered into the Earth’s shadow.

International Space Station transiting the skies across northern Arizona.
International Space Station transiting the skies across northern Arizona.

Both of these final images are composites. Each was shot with a 16mm ultra-wide angle lens at f/4.0, ISO 800, and 10s exposure. For the photograph above, 16 images were composited. For the photograph below, seven images were used. In Photoshop, images are assembled as layers then blended using Lighten mode. This allows the streak of light from the ISS to show through all layers. The advantage to this method — compared to a single image of longer duration — is that the sky does not become overexposed. Instead the result is a dark background upon which the ISS flies.

International Space Station transiting the skies across northern Arizona.
International Space Station transiting the skies across northern Arizona.

Both images were taken at the Kachina Wetlands located a few miles to the south of Flagstaff, Arizona. This location provides wide open skies for viewing objects low on the horizon and offers ponds of water that produce wonderful reflections of the stars.

To find out when the ISS will fly across your area, visit either of these sites:

SpaceWeather.com

Heavens-Above

Satellite transits and wildfires

The satellite flyby tables (mentioned in a previous post) indicated that there would be a favorable pass of the International Space Station this evening. The ISS would pass by Saturn, Mars, and Venus in the course of a minute or two in mid evening.

I wandered out to the Kachina Wetlands hoping to get good star and planet reflections in the water. It had been windy all day but by evening the wind had diminished and the water was smooth and glassy. Perfect for reflections.

It’s a tradeoff when it comes to shutter speed when imaging a transit of the ISS. A longer exposure will produce a longer track of the ISS while a shorter exposure will result in sharp points for the stars instead of blurred tracks. After a few test shots I decided that 20s was about right. Below are two images of the ISS. The first includes a very bright Venus near the horizon as well as its reflection with the ISS moving below the planet Mars (above and left of the track).

ISS passing by Venus, Mars, and Saturn in the evening twilight sky.
ISS passing by Venus, Mars, and Saturn in the evening twilight sky.

The second image was taken as the ISS was descending into the northern sky with the San Francisco Peaks in the background.

ISS descending in the northern sky with the Kachina Peaks in the distance.
ISS descending in the northern sky with the Kachina Peaks in the distance.

While setting up for the ISS transit I was saddened by the view of the Schultz Wildfire burning in the San Francisco Peaks. This fire has already burned over 14000 acres and is only partially contained. Many trails and forest service access roads have been destroyed by this fire. And, yet, the glow in the evening twilight and its reflection was fascinating.

Schultz Wildfire burning in the Kachina Peaks.
Schultz Wildfire burning in the San Francisco Peaks.