Archives for February 2018

The Winter Milky Way Over Cathedral Rock

February 24, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Astronomy Images and Video

The northern winter constellations over Cathedral Rock near Sedona, Arizona. Captured with a Nikon D750 DSLR camera set at ISO 3200 with a 15 second exposure using a Tamron 15-30 mm zoom lens at 15mm, f/2.8. Image credit: Brian Ventrudo.

If only capturing all nightscape images was this easy! In the international dark-sky community of Sedona, Arizona, where artificial lighting is strictly controlled, you can simply pull over by the side of the road on the outskirts of town on a clear night, set up your camera on a tripod, and release the shutter. Chances are you’ll capture something good.

This image of the winter stars over the red sandstone formation known as Cathedral Rock, taken in mid-February, required only slightly more planning. After a day hike up to a saddle point in this conglomeration of red sandstone, I noted the orientation of this famous landmark relative to the sky as seen from trailhead, waited for a clear night, and snapped away. Here you see the stream of the winter Milky Way at the upper left, and the winter constellations from Canis Major at lower left, through Monoceros and Orion at center, to Taurus at the upper right [Read more…] about The Winter Milky Way Over Cathedral Rock

Share This:

Snapshot of a Waning Gibbous Moon

February 5, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

A waning gibbous Moon, 71% illuminated, on Feb. 5, 2018. Click to open in a new window.

I looked out the window this morning and saw the Moon hanging clear and bright in a crisp and dry winter sky. So, of course, I had to take a picture!

Here you see the history of the ancient solar system etched like geological hieroglyphs into the face of our nearest celestial neighbor. The dark regions, the maria (or seas), are younger than the heavily cratered light-colored regions of the terrae (or highlands). The large dark region at the upper left is Oceanus Procellarum (the Ocean of Storms), which is capped by Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) to the north and Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds) and Mare Humorum (Sea of Moisture) to the south. To the right in this image, closer to the shadow beyond the terminator, the line between night and day on the Moon, you can see the circular Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity), below which is Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility). All these seas are lowlands flooded with lava after major meteor impacts some 3 billion years ago. The highlands are older and heavily peppered with craters from the days when the solar system was a more crowded and dangerous place.

You can see a few large craters here also. At the extreme western edge of the Moon (left in this image) you see the dark and worn crater Grimaldi. Copernicus, above and left of center, is a white bulls-eye bathed in full sunlight. Artistotle and Eudoxus are stacked on top of each other at the top, near the terminator. Theophilus is beautifully shadowed along the terminator just below center, while Maurolycus and Tycho grace the highlands to the south.

In this image, the Moon is nearly 5 days past full and 71% illuminated. The image was snapped by aiming a Nikon D750 camera out the window with a Nikon 200mm-500mm f/5.6 lens at 500mm, f/8, 1/2000s, ISO400. Cropped and lightly processed in Adobe Lightroom. Who says astrophotography has to be hard?

Share This:

The Sky This Month – February 2018

February 1, 2018 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Celestial Events

The constellations Orion, Canis Major, Taurus, and Auriga dominate the northern sky this month, while southern observers see these same groups along with Puppis, Carina, and Vela, constellations which harbor some of the best sights the night sky has to offer. No matter where you live, grab a telescope or binoculars and head out to take a look. This February is also a slightly unusual month because there’s no full Moon. January had two, the last of which happened on the final day of the month along with a spectacular lunar eclipse that coincided with the Moon’s closest approach to Earth. The video above shows a splendid summary of the event made by Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. And if you enjoyed waking early to see the planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in January, then you’ll have even more fun this month as each slowly grows bigger and brighter in the pre-dawn sky. Here’s what to see in the night sky this month. [Read more…] about The Sky This Month – February 2018

Share This: