AmazingSky

07/20/2026

The waxing 2.5-day-old crescent Moon is setting behind Pyramid Mountain in Jasper National Park, Alberta amid a colourful twilight sky on July 16, 2026. Above and to the left of the Moon is Venus, bright as an evening star.

This was from the Maligne Overlook viewpoint on the east side of the Athabasca River valley looking west.

The original is 10,300 pixels wide.

Technical:
This is a panorama of 2 segments, each 1/80 second at f/4 with the Canon RF24-105mm lens at 91mm, on the Canon R5 at ISO 200. Stitched in Adobe Camera Raw.

07/17/2026

The waxing 2.5-day-old crescent Moon is setting behind Pyramid Mountain in Jasper National Park, Alberta amid a colourful sunset sky on July 16, 2026. Above and to the left of the Moon is Venus, bright as an evening star.

This was from the Maligne Overlook viewpoint on the east side of the Athabasca River valley looking west.

Technical:
This is a panorama of 5 segments, each 1/80 second at f/4 with the Canon RF24-105mm lens at 85mm, on the Canon R5 at ISO 200. Stitched in Adobe Camera Raw.

07/12/2026

A panorama of "night shining" noctilucent clouds above the northern horizon from southern Alberta on July 11, 2026, over a canola field in full bloom. The evening was very clear with fine twilight colours contrasting with the yellow canola. From my latitude the NLCs usually peak at the same time as the canola blooms.

This was at about 11:25 pm MDT, with the bright blue-white noctilucent clouds confined to a small area to the north around the star Capella. At far left is Venus setting in the northwest. The previous night the NLCs were all over the northwestern sky.

This was from latitude 51º North, 112º West. From off a main highway close to home. There was no Moon this night. But there were plenty of mosquitoes!

Technical:
This is a blend of two panoramas each of 7 segments:
- one for the sky at 10 seconds each,
- and one taken immediately afterwards for the ground at 1 minute each for more shadow detail on this moonless night,
- both with the Canon RF24-105mm lens at 47mm and f/4 on the Canon R5 at ISO 200. Stitched in Adobe Camera Raw.
Topaz Photo applied to the ground for sharpening only. Luminar Neo applied to all for some mild structure and glow effects.

07/11/2026

A panorama of "night shining" noctilucent clouds across the northwestern horizon from southern Alberta on July 10, 2026.

This was at about 11:30 pm MDT, with the bright blue-white noctilucent clouds beginning to decline in brightness from the top down as the Sun dropped further below the horizon and the illumination of clouds began to decrease.

I have exaggerated the detail and contrast in order to bring out the structure and colours present in the NLCs and twilight glow. Capella is at right.

This was from latitude 51º North, 112º West. From my local "one tree" hill south of home.

Technical:
This is a pano of 8 segments, each 13 seconds with the Canon RF24-105mm lens at 56mm and f/4 on the Canon R5 at ISO 200. Stitched in Adobe Camera Raw.

07/10/2026

Here's my latest review — of a unique product that combines a telescope eyepiece with a digital sensor to provide views through a small scope that rival or exceed what you can see through much larger telescopes. Yes, you are looking at a digital image, but the views are very exciting nonetheless! And they thrilled the public at the event I tested at.

The SmartEye digital eyepiece from PegasusAstro enhances deep-sky viewing by combining digital imaging with traditional telescope use. It excels in capturing vibrant details in celestial objects bu…

07/10/2026

A panorama of "night shining" noctilucent clouds from home amid a wheatfield in southern Alberta on July 9, 2026.

This was at about 11:07 pm MDT, with the bright blue-white noctilucent clouds shining behind dark foreground storm clouds to the north.

Venus is visible amid the clouds at far left. The streak at far right is an aircraft contrail.

This was from latitude 51º North, 112º West.

Technical:
This is a pano of 6 segments, each 2 seconds with the Canon RF24-105mm lens at 33mm and f/4 on the Canon R5 at ISO 400. Stitched in Adobe Camera Raw.

07/09/2026

Here's my new music video of the July 3, 2026 all-sky aurora show, with real-time videos and time-lapses of the Northern Lights, shot from southern Alberta.

We are far enough north to get sky-filling shows in summer, but not so far north the sky is too bright to see them.

All the details are in the video description on YouTube. Do watch in full screen and in 4K if you can.

Enjoy!

This 5-minute video blends real-time video and time-lapses of the J...

07/08/2026

This was the most extensive and brightest display of noctilucent clouds so far in the 2026 season for me in southern Alberta, Canada (latitude 51º N).

A report at about 10:15 pm that NLCs were being sighted from Helena, Montana to the south of me suggested they might be overhead for me as it got dark enough to see them at 10:45 pm or so. And sure enough that was the case. I saw them visually overhead as a subtle glows in the still bright sky.

By the time I got the camera going the sky had darkened, but the clouds overhead were no longer sunlit. But to the north the NLCs were much brighter now and still high up the sky. I used a 12mm fish-eye lens to start, as the clouds extended as high as the Big Dipper at 50º altitude.

They remained bright and extensive across the northern sky from the northwest to the northeast, retreating toward the horizon as the Sun dropped lower below the horizon and clouds darkened from the top down.

The panorama shows their maximum extent across the northern horizon. The other single shot shows the intensely bright electric blue clouds at their brightest about 11:30 pm MDT.

This is peak season now in early to mid-July for NLCs for my latitude.

Details in the individual photo descriptions.

07/07/2026

Here's the all-sky aurora show from July 3-4, 2026, with the 6mm fish-eye lens that takes in the entire sky ... and more! This is 830 frames over about 2 hours, from 11 pm to 1 am. It begins with the sky still blue with deep twilight and the aurora in progress as the sky was darkening.

Things to watch for:
- the wave of colour that roars in as a substorm hits
- the converging of rays at the magnetic zenith at centre
- the transition to pulsing green curtains
- the appearance of blue rays lit by sunlight
- the rising of the waning Moon at lower left (SE)
- the Space Station flying across at the very end! They would have had a good show looking down from above.

South is at bottom – the aurora filled the sky! This was from home in Alberta at latitude 51º North.

07/04/2026

A panorama from home in Alberta of the Kp7-level display of aurora borealis on July 3/4, 2026, along with a showing of bright noctilucent clouds on the northern horizon. They appear behind local dark tropospheric clouds. This was quite a night for a sky show!

Technical:
This is a panorama of 10 segments, each 10 seconds at f/2.8 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 35mm on the Canon Ra at ISO 800. Stitched with Adobe Camera Raw.