Stellarscapes

Milky Way over Canyon Creek in the Trinity Alps

Canon 60Da
Sigma 18-25mm f/1.8 DC (set to 18mm f/1.8)
30 seconds at ISO 2500
6 panel mosaic, each with the same exposure, no superimposing, all shown in 1 layer

This starry night over the Trinity Alps was captured Saturday morning, May 23rd 2015 from the Canyon Creek Lakes. Desirae and I backpacked into this beautiful mountain paradise and began to understand what the Trinity Alps had to offer. This awesome campsite was some 9 miles into the trail which provided the view you see here to the SE. The north had a view of the Trinity Alp’s highest and most craggiest peaks, including Sawtooth, Wedding Cake, and Thompson.  I was carrying the rather heavy Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC lens, not to mention a full sized photo tripod and the Canon 60Da. This extra bulk was arguably impractical for backpacking but it was worth while! Our campsite withstood harsh thunderstorms Friday afternoon.  I set my alarm for 1:30AM and woke up to a perfectly clear sky.  The few day old crescent Moon had already set, leaving only star light, perhaps some skyglow, and some natural airglow (greenish glow in the image) to illuminate the granite and glaciated peaks.  The Canyon Creek valley filled with fog which was easy to spot that night. This fog, blanketing over many streams and waterfalls, could explain the groves of coastal Redwoods that thrived there some 90 miles inland from Eureka.

Star Trails over the Trinity Alps

Canon 60Da
Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC
Single 75 minute exposure, no stacking
35mm ISO200, f/5

I believe in single shot star trail images because they truly capture and represent Earth’s rotation and passage of time, including capturing meteors and satellites, if they chance getting in the shot. Pure and simple, just a long shutter, same approach as a film camera.

In January I joined a 10 week Wilderness Travel course organized by the Sierra Club. WTC provides essential outdoor training, safety and preservation awareness for the aspiring mountaineer or backpacker. The Orange County Whitney Group’s last field trip was in the Sierra Nevada west of Big Pine.  Snow camping was the intended purpose of the trip.  Camping under the stars was a terrific experience, despite the lack of snow at the campground itself.  California’s severe drought has a profoundly visible effect in the Sierras.  The first day of spring in the high Sierra looked like a mid-summer day based on the thin shell of icy, retreating snow.  Our day hikes took us far enough to experience some snow, and the Sierras still provided those rejuvenating qualities that Muir himself attested to.

The nightscape scenes were taken with a Canon 60Da and Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens, ranging from 20-30 seconds at ISO 1600. Speaking of that lens, it’s highly rated but this particular one may not be perfectly reaching infinity focus. It approaches but does not pass focus.  I’ll look into that but the lens’ potential is apparent. Temperatures that night started in the high 40s and dropped to the 20s before sunrise.  This was around the new Moon, so the only forms of ground illumination were some twilight (in “Orion Over Sierras”), starlight, and the campfire in two of these images.

Milky Way at Table Mountain Campground	Campfire Commune Under Orion
Orion Over Sierras	Starry Camp Lit by Campfire

Cave Nebula, Sh2-155

This image of the Cave Nebula is a HaLRGB blend taken with the AP130 Gran Turismo (w/Astro-Tech Field Flattener) F/6.3 and Parsec 8300M, mounted on the AP900GTO.  Image data captured in August 2011, reprocessed in August 2014.

19 x 15 minutes Luminance 6 x 30 minutes Ha Luminance 9 x 15 minutes each for RGB 2×2

The Cave Nebula Sh2-155 region includes dark nebula LDN1216 and reflection nebula vdB 155.

Astronomy.com Picture of the Day November 3, 2014

Milky Way Over Moon-Lit Eastern Sierra Nevada

July 1, 2014
Guitar Lake below Mt. Whitney, 11,500′
Tamron 18-200 zoom, Canon 60Da, ISO 6400, 25 sec
6 panel mosaic, all using same exposure for land and sky