This is Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over the badlands and formations of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, on the night of July 14-15, 2020, at about 12:30 am local time with it nearly due north and as low as it got for the night at this latitude of 51ð N. A green and magenta aurora colours the northern sky also blue with perpetual summer twilight. Capella is at far right. The cometâÂÂÂs dim blue ion tail is visible here extending some 18ð to the top of the frame; the whitish curving dust tail extends about 12ð though it becomes lost in the sky still bright with twilight and the aurora this night. This is a classic comet! Very much the dimmer twin of Comet Hale-Bopp from April 1997.This is a blend of 6 exposures for the ground stacked to smooth noise, with a single exposure for the sky, with the 35mm Canon lens and Canon 6D MkII. The ground exposures are 1- and 2-minutes at ISO 1600 and f/2.8, while the single untracked sky exposure was 20 seconds at ISO 3200 and f/2.5. There was no Moon, thus the need to take very long exposures for the ground to reveal details in the landscape here illuminated by just starlight and the faint aurora that was to the north and that was barely visible to the eye. Otherwise the ground would have been a featureless silhouette. So, yes, this image shows much more than the eye could see unaided due to the long exposures, but thatâÂÂÂs the point and attraction of astrophotographyàâ to record celestial objects and scenes with more detail than the eye can see. Indeed, any exposure longer than a second is bound to show more than the eye can detect. However, in binoculars the ion tail was barely visible, helped by knowing it was there. But the dust tail could be see to this extent, but in binoculars! However, the comet was still a fine sight naked eye, with an obvious tail about 5ð to 6ð long to the eye, despite the bright midnight sky.LENR employed in camera on all shots this warm night to remove thermal speckling and colour ca
Capping off Astronomy Week, Saturday, October 9 is celebrated as International Astronomy Day. Celebrated twice annually since 1973, this event aims to bring awareness to Astronomy education and to encourage the passions of amateur and professional astronomers and stargazers alike.
Astronomy, the study of the sun, moon, stars, planets, comets, gas, galaxies, dust and other non-Earthly bodies and phenomena, had its origins as far back as ancient Babylon and Greece. During the first one thousand years of the common era, Islamic astronomers improved upon the theories of Greek mathematician Ptolemy to better track the movement of stars and identify constellations. These improvements led to the Golden Age of European Astronomy in the 1500’s and 1600’s, where scientists such as Copernicus (with his theory of heliocentrism) and Galileo (he developed and used telescopes that led to important discoveries) significantly moved the science of astronomy forward.
Astronomers today continue to advance the science with new discoveries. One of the most recent discoveries was that of Comet NEOWISE in March 2020. NEOWISE was discovered by NASA’s NEOWISE mission and provided an exciting light show for skywatchers on Earth during March and April of 2020 as the icy comet lit up the heavens as it made its way back toward the outer solar system. If you missed it, you’ll need to wait a bit for a second chance – astronomers don’t expect NEOWISE to visit us again for another 6,800 years!
In case a cloudy sky or misplaced telescope prevents you from watching the stars tonight, enjoy our slideshow of the beautiful world above us.
Curtains of aurora during an active storm on February 18
The Big Dipper and Arcturus at left over a single tipi at the Two Trees site at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan
Mars and the Milky Way over the tipis at Two Trees area in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan on August 6, 2018
The galactic centre region of the Milky Way in Sagittarius setting behind Bow Glacier at the end of Bow Lake, in Banff National Park, Alberta
A 160° panorama taken July 5/6 of the summer Milky Way and the array of summer 2018 planets over the prairie pond near home in southern Alberta
An ice crystal halo around the waxing gibbous Moon, March 7, 2017
Mars at left in clouds and the summer Milky Way over Lake Herbert and reflected in the still waters this night This is in Banff National Park
The Northern Lights exhibiting the classic red colour in the upper curtains in addition from the main green lower curtains
A Park interpreter poses for a scene in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan
A flower-filled meadow at the Hay Barn Road at Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta
A selfie of me pointing at Mars at Grasslands National Park, August 6, 2018
The summer Milky Way rising in the late night hours on May 14/15, 2018
The California Nebula in Perseus
Circumpolar star trails over a grand old barn in southern Alberta
The large star-forming region of IC 1396 in Cepheus
A composite of the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse
The well-publicized – if not overly publicized! – supermoon a perigee Full Moon of November 14
Sundogs over the old Churchill Rocket Range
Orion and the winter stars and Milky Way over a mock-up inukshuk figure made of snow blocks
Observers at the 2017 OzSky Star Party in Australia
The northern summer Milky Way through the area of the Summer Triangle
