iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It was a fine evening, on the first day of autumn, to be in the Alberta foothills, for sunset and moonrise. These were from the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory on a special "open house" night just for members of the RASC Calgary Centre. A good time was had by all!

020

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Here are two images from my shoot at Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, BC last Friday night, on a perfect night for nightscapes. One is with the quarter Moon still up and lighting the scene; the other after moonset with the sky now dark. Details in Alt Text.

Technical:
This is a vertical panorama (a "vertorama") consisting of a blend of several stacked sets of exposures, all with the (new to me this night) Canon RF 20mm VCM lens on the astro-modified Canon Ra in landscape orientation:
— A stack of 4 x 30 seconds at f/2 and ISO 800, untracked, for the ground, taken first, followed by
— A panorama of 3 segments, each segment a stack of 4 x 30 seconds at f/2 and ISO 800, tracked for the sky, with the camera on the MSM Nomad tracker. The camera was tilted up by ~30º for each segment.
— The star reflection in the lake comes from one of the untracked ground images, to minimize trailing.

All processed in Camera Raw, with the pan segments stitched in PTGui with transverse equirectangular projection, and then layered, masked and blended in Photoshop with the ground stack.

Technical:
This is blend of several stacked sets of exposures, all with the (new to me this night) Canon RF 20mm VCM lens on the astro-modified Canon Ra:
— A stack of 4 x 1 minute at f/2 and ISO 1600, untracked, for the dark ground, taken first, followed by
— A stack of 4 x 1 minute at f/2 and ISO 800, tracked for the sky, with no filter,
— A stack of 4 x 2 minutes at f/1.4 and ISO 800, tracked, and through a Maven 20nm front-mounted Hydrogen-Alpha filter for the red nebulas, with the stars removed in post with the RC-Astro StarXTerminator filter.
— A stack of 2 x 1 minute at f/2 and ISO 800, tracked, and through a Maven Star Walker diffusion filter for the star glows.
— The star reflection in the lake comes from one of the untracked ground images.

All processed in Camera Raw, and stacked, aligned, masked and blended in Photoshop.

081

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

This is the summer Milky Way over the site of the Southern Alberta Star Party in the Cypress Hills of southeastern Alberta, with the party underway and observers enjoying the dark night sky. This was September 8, 2026, after a day prior of rain! Details in Alt Text.

The area is a dark sky preserve, and the Whispering Pines Camp here is home to the popular annual star party in September. This was September 8, 2026, after a day prior of rain!

Sagittarius and the galactic core are low in the south above the meeting and dining hall. The Summer Triangle stars are at top, with the view extending up to the zenith.

Technical:
A blend of two exposures, each 30 seconds untracked, with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 15mm and f/2.8 on the Canon Ra at ISO 3200. One exposure adds most of the scene; the second exposure adds just a different pose for the foreground observer and removes a blurry observer in the distance to reveal the telescope. AI Distraction removal used to remove power lines and poles at the site.

Being untracked, the stars are trailed somewhat, despite the wide-angle lens used and exposure time under the "500 Rule" limit of 33 seconds for this focal length.

051

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

This is a 360º fish-eye framing of the late summer Milky Way from latitude 51º North on a fine mid-September night. North is at top; south at the bottom; east to the left and west to the right where the sky is bright with urban sky glow. From home in southern Alberta. Details in Alt Text.

Technical:
This is a stack of 16 x 2 minutes exposures, median stacked to eliminate aircraft and satellite trails, all with the AstrHori 6mm circular fish-eye lens wide open at f/2.8, on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. On the Star Adventurer 2i tracker. This is a single framing, not a multi-segment panorama. The AstrHori 6mm lens takes in a 220º field, so all of the sky and the ground below.

Taken from home in Alberta on September 16, 2026. No filters were used. The ground is blurred from the tracker motion; I left it blurred rather than layer in a single sharper ground image, as the ground serves only as a dark frame for the sky.

053

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Here is my report on my recent "expedition" to view the second eclipse of August, the deep partial eclipse of the Moon. Success! Illustrated with photos and charts, and a look ahead to future lunar eclipses. It's a drought for us! Glad I got this one! amazingsky.net/2026/09/01/c...

amazingsky.net

Chasing the Earth-Shadowed Moon to the Mountains

August 2026 featured remarkable eclipse events, including a total solar eclipse in Spain on August 12 and a significant partial lunar eclipse on August 27. The author traveled to Waterton Lakes Nat…

150

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

This is a composite illustrating the passage of the Full Moon from R to L through the northern portion of Earth's umbral shadow on August 27, 2026. This was not a total eclipse. At mid-eclipse at centre (at 10:15 pm MDT) about 96% of the Moon's disk was in the umbra. Details in the Alt Text.

$Technical: This is a composite of 5 sets of images, each set a blend of 7 exposures, in an auto-bracketed sequence at 1-stop intervals from short for the bright portion, to long for the umbra, with the exposure range varying throughout — for example the longest exposure in each set ranged from 1/4-second to 8 seconds. The stars come from the longest 8-second exposure in the mid-eclipse image set. All were with the Canon R5 at ISO 100, on the Askar APO120 refractor at its native f/7 for 840mm focal length. It was on my venerable "eclipse" mount, the Astro-Physics AP400 tracking at the lunar rate. The AP400 has been to many solar and lunar eclipses. Exposures in each set were blended with Lights1 luminosity masks created with the Lumenzia extension panel in Photoshop, with adjustments to the masks' feathering to smooth the blends. The flanking images were masked to put them "behind" the central mid-eclipse image. Each set was shot with the Moon more or less centred in the frame. I placed each Moon manually using a background sky chart image from StarryNight software showing the shadow outlines and stars to aid accurate positioning.$

052

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

A 180º panorama of the eclipse sky at Waterton Lakes Nat'l Park, Alberta on August 27, with the eclipsed red Moon at left and the Milky Way at right over the Maskinonge wetlands. With the Full Moon darkened, the Milky Way appeared! Tech details in the Alt Text.

Technical:
This is a blend of two panoramas of 5 segments each, at 30º spacings:
- the first for the ground, untracked,
- and the second taken immediately afterwards, tracked for the sky. The camera was on the MSM Nomad tracker.

All exposures for both ground and sky were 30 seconds at f/2.8 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 24mm, on the astro-modified Canon R at ISO 6400, much higher than I would normally use. But wind was buffeting the tripod so I opted to keep exposures short, plus I had to work quickly before the Moon emerged too much more from the umbral shadow and lit up the sky. However, AI noise reduction did clean up the noise very well. I stitched the panoramas in Camera Raw and blended and masked them in Photoshop.

The Moon comes from a blend of 8 tracked exposures with the same lens and focal length (so the Moon is the correct size) taken after the pan segments. The Moon exposures were 1 stop apart from 10 seconds to 1/13 second, to retain the red disk and portray the scene more as the eye could see it with both the Moon and Milky Way, but that the camera cannot record in a single exposure. Moon exposures blended in with masks for the highlights, ad hoc adjusted for feathering to smooth the blending.

071

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

The nearly total eclipse of the Moon on August 27, 2026, near mid-eclipse, processed to preserve the details from the bright to the dark areas, as the eye saw it through the eyepiece. From Waterton Lakes, Alberta. Details in the Alt Text

$Technical: This is a blend of 7 exposures, in an auto-bracketed set at 1-stop intervals from 1/8-second to 8-seconds with the Canon R5 at ISO 100, on the Askar APO120 refractor at its native f/7 for 840mm focal length. It was on my venerable "eclipse" mount, the Astro-Physics AP400 tracking at the lunar rate. The AP400 has been to many solar and lunar eclipses. Exposures were blended with Lights1 luminosity masks created with the Lumenzia extension panel in Photoshop, with adjustments to the masks' feathering to smooth the blends. A median filter was applied to the longest exposure to eliminate hot pixels on this warm summer night. This was certainly the warmest and most comfortable lunar eclipse I had been to in many years!$

161

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

A wide-angle view from northern Spain of the total eclipse of the Sun of August 12, 2026. They show the sky at mid-totality, in versions with and without labels and the lines for the ecliptic and lunar orbit showing their intersection at the eclipse. To the far upper left is the planet Venus.

Technical:
A single exposure of 1.3 seconds at f/2.8 with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 15mm on the Canon Ra at ISO 200. A frame from a 520-frame time-lapse sequence of the shadow motion across the sky, shot with Auto Exposure.

040

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This frames the total solar eclipse of the Sun of August 12, 2026, as seen from northern Spain, from: — the early partial phases at top, — through to totality at centre, — and then through the final partial phases with the Sun with the eclipse still in progress. Tech details in Alt Text.

Technical:
This is a blend of many exposures, taken with the same lens and without moving the camera. The lens was the Canon RF70-200mm f/4 at 70mm on the Canon R5.

The partial phases were through a Maven solar filter, and from 1/160 to 3 seconds with frames selected at 3 minute intervals. The final setting Sun was shot without the filter. The partial phases are layered onto the main image, which is a blend of:

— A single 0.8-second exposure at f/4 and ISO 200 for the sky, ground, and longest image of totality.

— Onto that base image is blended a stack of 6 exposures for the corona, from 1/80th to 0.4 seconds.

— This stack was blended onto the main long exposure of the corona with a luminosity mask.

— Then a short 1/320-second exposure taken at the start of totality was layered in and masked to reveal just the red prominence on the left side.

141

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The rising Full Moon and the setting Sun, taken a few minutes apart on July 28, 2026, amid a smoky sky reddening the Sun as it set in the northwest and the Moon as it rose in the southeast. Taken from Range and Township roads near home in southern Alberta. Details in Alt Text.

A dimmed and reddened Full Moon rising in a smoky and hazy sky from near home in southern Alberta, on July 28, 2026, over a wheatfield. The July Full Moon is popularly called the "Buck Moon."

Taken from a Range road south of home and looking southeast. The Moon had to climb a few degrees above the horizon this night to be visble at all.

There is a matching smoky setting Sun shot taken shortly before this from a nearby site looking northwest.

Technical:
This is a single 0.5-second exposure with the Nikon Z8 at ISO 100 and Nikkor 24-120mm lens at 120mm and f/8.

A dimmed and reddened Sun setting in a smoky and hazy sky from near home in southern Alberta, on July 28, 2026, over a wheatfield. Taken from the Township road south of home and looking northwest. Some sunspots are just visible on the solar disk as dark specks.

There is a matching Full Moon-rise shot taken shortly after this from a nearby site looking southeast.

Technical:
This is a blend of two exposures: 1/60 second for the sky and ground and 1/250 second for the Sun's disk to prevent it from overexposing and to appear more like it did to the eye. All with the Nikon Z8 at ISO 100 and Nikkor 24-120mm lens at 120mm and f/5.6.

062

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Here are two versions, with and without labels, of a nightscape scene along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park, Alberta, at the Athabasca Pass Viewpoint. This was from July 16 before the smoke moved in! Tech details are in the Alt Text.

Technical:
This is a complex blend of separate exposures for ground and sky:
- A stack of 2 x 2 minutes at ISO 800, untracked, for the ground, with LENR on, followed immediately by ...
- A stack of 4 x 1 minute at ISO 800, tracked, with no filter and LENR off, for the sky, followed by ...
- A stack of 2 x 1 minute at ISO 800, also tracked, with the Maven StarWalker filter to add the star glows, followed by ...
- A stack of 3 x 2 minutes at ISO 1600, also tracked, with the Maven 20nm red Hydrogen-Alpha filter for the nebulas. Stars were removed from the H-alpha layer with the RC-Astro Star XTerminator filter.

All were with the astro-modified Canon Ra and Canon RF15-35mm lens at 26mm and f/2.8 and on the MSM Nomad star tracker. The foreground was not an evening "blue hour" shot. Taken close to 12:30 am MDT, it is lit just by starlight and the lingering perpetual twilight of a summer night.

0102

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

This is a 180º panorama across the western sky of the summer Milky Way and stars over the peaks of the Continental Divide. The location is the eastern shore of Lower Waterfowl Lake on the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park, Alberta. At right is towering Mt. Cephren. Details in Alt Text.

Technical:
This is a blend of separate exposures and panoramas for ground and sky:
- A stitch of 6 segments for the ground, each segment 2 minutes at ISO 1600 with LENR on, untracked, followed immediately by ...
- A stitch of 6 segments for the sky, each segment 1 minute at ISO 1600 with LENR off, tracked, with no filter, for the sky, followed by ...
- A stitch of 4 segments for the H-Alpha nebulas, each segment 3 minutes at ISO 3200, also tracked with no LENR, taken with the Maven 20nm red Hydrogen-Alpha filter for the nebulas. Stars were removed from the H-Alpha layer with the RC-Astro Star XTerminator filter.

All with the astro-modified Canon Ra and Canon RF15-35mm lens at 24mm and f/2.8 and on the MSM Nomad star tracker. The foreground was not an evening "blue hour" shot. Taken close to 1 am MDT, it is lit by starlight and the lingering perpetual twilight of a summer night.

Stitched in Adobe Camera Raw and panos stacked, aligned and blended in Photoshop. While I left in the ISS trail, I de-StarLinked the sky to remove the other dimmer satellite trails that are in abundance on a summer night.

0219

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

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.

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.

072

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

A panorama of noctilucent clouds above the northern horizon from southern Alberta on July 11, 2026, over a canola field in full bloom. From my latitude the NLCs usually peak at the same time as the canola blooms. Details in Alt Text.

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.

0115

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

The displays of noctilucent clouds keep coming! This was from July 10, from near home in southern Alberta at my local "one tree hill" site. This was at 11:30 pm MDT, with the blue-white noctilucent clouds beginning to decline in brightness. Details in the Alt Text.

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.

0111

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

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. amazingsky.net/2026/07/10/t...

amazingsky.net

Testing the PegasusAstro SmartEye Digital Eyepiece

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…

032

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

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. Details in Alt Text.

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.

040

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Here's my 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, but not so far north the summer sky is too bright to see them. youtu.be/L8aIOEBAhw8

youtu.be

Summer All-Sky Aurora

YouTube video by AmazingSky

020

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

A capture of a "grand display" of noctilucent clouds from home amid a wheatfield in southern Alberta on July 7, 2026. This was the brightest display of NLCs so far this summer for me in southern Alberta. Details in the Alt Text.

This was at about 11:26 pm MDT, with the clouds visible high in the sky as it got dark earlier and retreating to the north as the sky darkened and the Sun elevation dropped lower below the horizon. But here the NLCs were still extensive across the northwestern sky which was bright and colourful with summer twilight. The brightest section of NLCs remained brilliant and electric blue-white for many minutes past this, lingering in the northwest as the clouds darkened from the top down as the Sun angle decreased.

This was the brightest and most extensive display to date for the 2026 season.

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

Technical:
This is a blend of two exposures: a shorter 15-second for the sky and a longer 1-minute for the dark ground, with the Canon RF15-35mm lens at 28mm and f/2.8 on the Canon Ra at ISO 100. LENR on for hot-pixel reduction.

0102

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Two versions, with and without labels, of the summer Milky Way at Dinosaur Provincial Park, June 18, 3 days before solstice in a sky not fully dark. Special filters enhanced the many red nebulas around the galactic core. Tech details in the Alt Text.

Technical:
This is a complex blend of several exposures taken in quick succession from the same tripod position —
- A stack of 2 x 4-minute exposures for the ground, with no filter and with no tracking to keep the ground sharp (at f/2.8 and ISO 800)
- A stack of 4 x 1-minute tracked exposures for the sky with the Maven Night filter, a broadband light pollution suppression filter (at f/2.8 and ISO 800)
- A stack of 2 x 2-minute tracked exposures for the red nebulas with the Maven 20nm Hydrogen-Alpha narrowband filter (at f/2 and ISO 3200)
- plus another stack of 3 x 4-minute tracked exposures for more nebulosity with the Astronomik 12nm H-Alpha clip-in narrowband filter (also at f/2 and ISO 3200) — I shot with both H-a filters to compare their relative effects.
- Stars were removed from the H-a layers using RC-Astro StarXTerminator AI filter
- plus a 1-minute tracked exposure for the star glows layered in taken with the Maven StarWalker diffusion filter (at f/2.8 and ISO 800)

182

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

A pale arc of aurora last night, June 24-25, across the bright solstice northern sky and a foreground lit by the Moon. This was from southern Alberta in a multi-panel panorama at my local "lone tree hill." Details in the Alt Text.

This is a panorama of an arc of Northern Lights on June 24, 2026 a few days after the summer solstice, so the sky is bright to the north with perpetual twilight. And the waxing gibbous Moon is lighting the scene from behind the camera. This aurora never got any brighter or more structured than this in the time I was looking. Indeed, even these subtle vertical rays here were gone in the next set of images I shot for another panorama a few minutes later.

The aurora was at about Kp4.5 this night, which from my latitude in western Canada is enough to produce at least a horizon show.

At left behind the "lone tree on the prairie" the sky is bright with what might be a distant display of noctilucent clouds. The other clouds are normal weather clouds, mostly high cirrus.

The bright star Capella, circumpolar from this latitude of 51º N, is low at centre. The stars of Perseus are at right.

The bright area in the grass below the vertical curtains of aurora at right is an "opposition effect" back reflection of the Moon 180º away from that spot behind the camera.

I shot this from the east-west township grid road to the south of home where there is a "lone tree hill."

Technical:
This is a panorama of originally 16 segments covering about 220º from due west to southeast, but here cropped down to a smaller portion looking north and northeast framing the arc of aurora. Each segment was 13 seconds at f/1.8 with the Viltrox 35mm LAB lens on the Nikon Z8 at ISO 800, with the camera in landscape orientation. Stitched in ACR. The original is 19,000 pixels wide.

081

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

We had some "nocts" last night low across the north about midnight, June 22-23. These are noctilucent clouds visible only at this time of year – bright icy clouds high in the mesosphere that are illuminated by sunlight streaming over the pole. Details in the Alt Text.

This is a panorama of a display of noctilucent clouds low across the northern horizon amid the solstice twilight, a day after the 2026 summer solstice. I shot this from home in southern Alberta at latitude 51º North. The star Capella is at right. This was at about 20 minutes after midnight on June 22-23. The clouds faded shortly after this as the Sun dropped lower and its illumination of the clouds over the north pole decreased.

A waxing crescent Moon provides some foreground illumination. Dark tropospheric clouds are silhouetted in front of the bright NLCs.

Technical:
This is a panorama of 6 segments at 10º spacing, each 20 seconds at f/4 with the Nikkor 24-120mm S-Line lens at 86mm on the Nikon Z6III at ISO 400. Stitched in Camera Raw.

050

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Here is a view, with and without labels, of the fine evening sky show on June 18, from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, with the array of three planets and the Moon in the colourful twilight sky.

1123

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

I missed the main event today, June 17, due to clouds as the Moon hid Venus at midday. But by 4pm the clouds had cleared to show the waxing crescent Moon retreating from Venus in the blue afternoon sky. Details in the Alt Text.

This is the waxing crescent Moon near Venus in the afternoon, set in the deep blue daytime sky, on June 17, 2026. The Moon had occulted Venus about 3 hours before this but clouds hid that event from view for me. The clouds cleared enough by 4 pm this day to afford some quick shots with a telephoto lens and camera on a tripod. The phase of Venus is just perceptible at the pixel-peeping level as a gibbous phase.

This was from home in southern Alberta. This shows the scene as it appeared in binoculars; I could not see Venus with the unaided eye near the Moon.

Technical:
A stack of 6 x 1/640th second exposures at f/8 with the Canon RF100-400mm lens at 400mm and on the Canon R5 at ISO 200 and set to APS-C crop frame mode to zoom in a bit more.

0110

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Here is a time-lapse movie the "satellite strewn sky," illustrating the proliferation of satellites now above us. This was over 2.5 hours on June 13-14, 2026. Details are in the video description on YouTube. Do share! youtu.be/yZpbJJLk1ug

youtu.be

The Satellite Strewn Sky

YouTube video by AmazingSky

0146

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

This is an accumulation of exposures showing the number of satellites across the Milky Way during 35 minutes, from 12:28 am to 1:03 am on June 14, 2026. The field of view here is 54º by 37º, framing the Summer Triangle stars. Details in Alt Text.

And yes, most of the satellite trails are from SpaceX Starlink satellites as most of the satellites now in orbit are Starlinks. And most seen here are following similar parallel paths as Starlinks sets do.

The fast lens and long exposures I used here do make satellites visible that were too faint to see with the unaided eye, just as fainter stars than your eye can see are recorded. Nevertheless, this shows just how many satellites are now passing through any field of view, be it naked eye, camera lens, or telescope.

For this I stacked just 300 frames out of 1200 I shot this night over 2h30m. Stacking more frames only produced a dense, chaotic mess, with so many satellite trails the stars were hidden behind a wall of bright streaks.

Technical:
This is a stack of 300 frames, stacked using the program StarStax using the Lighten blend mode, to add the satellite trails rather than average them out.

Each exposure was 6 seconds at f/1.2 with the Viltrox 35mm LAB lens on the Nikon Z8 at ISO 1600. (StarStax deleted the camera metadata from the files.) There was an interval of 1 second between exposures, thus the gaps in all the trails. The camera was on a tracker following the turning sky, so the stars stay fixed on the frame with minimal trailing, and the satellites streak against the point-like stars.

14419

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

This is an "all-sky" fish-eye view of the night sky a week before summer solstice, taken June 13-14. 2026, from home in southern Alberta at latitude of 51º N. So the sky is not astronomically dark and is lit a deep blue by all-night perpetual twilight. Details in Alt Text.

Technical:
This is a stack of 8 x 2 minutes with the AstrHori 6mm fish-eye lens wide open at f/2.8. The lens presents a circular field of view of 220º – so it includes the ground below the horizon. The ground comes from one exposure to minimize blurring. Star glows added manually and with the AstroTools effects panel. No filters were employed here and can't be used on a fish-eye lens like this.

This was with the Canon Ra at ISO 800. The camera was tracking the sky for all exposures on the MSM Nomad tracker. Taken from home on a very clear night June 13, 2026. There were no noctilucent clouds this night! None!

070

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

This frames the pairing of Venus above Jupiter in the evening sky on June 10, 2026. They are over the windy waters of Crawling Lake Reservoir in southern Alberta near Bassano. Above the pair of planets are the stars Pollux (at left) and Castor (at top) in Gemini. Details in Alt Text.

$The planets were closest together the night before, June 9, and were beginning to pull apart this night with Venus ascending and Jupiter descending lower each night. Clouds and storms prevented a view on June 9 and only parted for a while this evening. The night was windy so there was no chance of a reflection of the planets in the water. So instead I used a long exposure to blur the waves, and fortuitously create wave patterns that acted as leading lines to the planet pair. Taken from the eastern shore of Crawling Lake looking northwest. Technical: This is a blend of two exposures — - a single 1-second for the sky at f/2..8, untracked, plus - a single 30-second for the ground and water at f/11 - all with the Nikkor 50mm lens on the Nikon Z8 and ISO 100. Diffraction spikes added in post with AstronomyTools actions.$

061

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Here's a wider view of the Venus-Jupiter conjunction from June 8, over the Badlands scenery of the Red Deer River valley at Horsethief Canyon north of Drumheller, Alberta. The planets appear amid blue noctilucent clouds, in my first sighting of NLCs this year. Tech details are in the Alt Text.

$Technical: This is a blend of exposures to capture the wide dynamic range of the scene: - A single 30-second exposure at f/5.6 for the dark ground - A single 2-second exposure at f/4 for the bright sky - plus another 2-second shot through a Maven Starwalker filter to add the slight glows to the planets to make them stand out. - plus another 2-second shot through a Tiffen Starpoint filter for a starburst diffraction effect to have as an option, which I blended in here for artistic effect. All with the Nikon Z8 camera at ISO 100 and Nikkor S-line 24-120mm lens at 27mm, with the camera on an MSM Nomad tracker, with the tracker on for the sky images (to prevent trailing and to allow easier alignment of the filtered and non-filtered images), but with the tracker off for the ground images.$

080

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

This frames the conjunction of Venus above Jupiter in the evening twilight of June 8, 2026. They are below Pollux, the bright star at top. Dim Mercury is at right above the dark clouds. However, the two bright planets are embedded in what look like noctilucent clouds.

$This was from the Horsethief Canyon Viewpoint overlooking the Badlands of the Red Deer River valley north of Drumheller, Alberta. This is looking northwest, with the lingering glow of sunset at right. I picked the site as it offered the best prospects for a lack of clouds this evening, choosing it over another site in the foothills which looked to be cloudier, which I think it was. Technical: This is a blend of exposures to capture the wide dynamic range of the scene: - A stack of 4 x 60 seconds at f/4 for the dark ground - A single 3-second exposure at f/4 for the bright sky - plus another 3-second shot through a Maven Starwalker filter to add the slight glows to the planets to make them stand out. I also shot through a Tiffen Starpoint filter for a starburst diffraction effect to have as an option, but have not used it here. All with the Nikon Z8 camera at ISO 100 and Nikkor S-line 24-120mm lens at 53mm, with the camera on an MSM Nomad tracker, with the tracker on for the sky images (to prevent trailing and to allow easier alignment of the filtered and non-filtered images), but with the tracker off for the ground images.$

1101

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

In my latest review I test five fish-eye lenses for astrophotography. A fish-eye can be great for capturing an all-sky aurora show or the Milky Way. Two are circular fish-eyes, three are full-frame fish-eyes, all from China for under $300 US. amazingsky.net/2026/05/27/t...

amazingsky.net

Testing Low-Cost Fish-Eye Lenses for Astrophotography

The article reviews five affordable fish-eye lenses ideal for astrophotography, highlighting their performance under night sky conditions. Notable recommendations include the 7Artisans 10mm for its…

020

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Here are views of the fine close conjunction of the waxing crescent Moon above Venus in the evening sky, May 18. The conjunction is reflected in Crawling Lake, Alberta. The wide views frame Jupiter and the stars of Gemini, while the panorama takes in the sky and stars from west to north over 120º.

081

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Take a couple of minutes out to enjoy an aurora, from May 15, 2026. Two hours of Northern Lights compressed into two minutes! This was from Alberta. Details in the video description on YouTube. Enjoy! youtu.be/UxwEzulYsa0?...

youtu.be

Blue Aurora in Twilight

YouTube video by AmazingSky

151

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

This is the edge-on galaxy NGC 5907 in Draco, aka the Splinter Galaxy, caught with a supernova explosion underway. This is Supernova SN2026kid, discovered on April 20, 2026 and imaged here on April 30 when it was 15th magnitude. The galaxy itself is magnitude 10.3 and 53 million light years away.

130

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Here is a capture last night (April 29) of an exploding star in a galaxy far, far away! A blip of light — but it is 53 million light years away. So the star exploded early in the Paleogene Period well after the extinction of the dinosaurs. But the light is just reaching us now. Details in Alt Text.

Details —
This is the edge-on galaxy NGC 5907 in Draco, aka the Splinter Galaxy, caught with a supernova explosion underway.

This is Supernova SN2026kid, discovered on April 20, 2026 and imaged here on April 29/30 when it was 15th magnitude. The galaxy itself is magnitude 10.3 and is 53 million light years away.

Only the supernova is at that distance. All the other stars are likely foreground stars much closer within our galaxy and only a few thousand lights years awa.y.

SN 2026kid is a Type II supernova — meaning a giant star exploding at the end of its life, perhaps turning into a neutron star or black hole.

Technical:
This is a stack of 40 x 10-second exposures (so over just 6.5 minutes) with the Pegasus SmartEye dgital eyepiece with its IMX533 CMOS sensor. It was on the Askar APO120 telescope for 840mm focal length at f/7.

042

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Comet PanSTARRS (C/2025 R3) rising in the dawn twilight on April 19, 2026. It was at its closest point to the Sun it its orbit (at perihelion) on this date. But it was so low from my latitude the comet was embedded in the bright twilight and difficult to see even with binoculars. Details in Alt Text

$This is Comet PanSTARRS (C/2025 R3) rising in the dawn twilight on April 19, 2026. It was at its closest point to the Sun it its orbit (at perihelion) on this date. But it was so low from my latitude the comet was embedded in the bright twilight and difficult to see even with binoculars. It was dropping closer to the Sun to disappear from view from my location a few days after this. The field of view is 5.8º by 3.9º. This was at 4:52 am MDT, just after the comet rose but before the sky got too bright to see the comet. There was a window of just a few minutes to catch the comet! This was from home in Alberta at 51º N. Technical: This is a single 30-second exposure with the Starfield Optics Géar70Q apo refractor at f/5 and 350mm focal length, on the Canon R5 at ISO 800. Tracked, so the ground is blurred, but unguided.$

050

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

April 18/19, 2026 STEVE showed up! This is from southern Alberta. At midnight the aurora peaked at Kp5 and filled the northern sky. It faded and retreated north, the cue for STEVE to put in an appearance. About 12:30 am there he was in his usual colours. Details in Alt Text.

This is the main showing of aurora to the north about midnight on April 18-19, 2026. during a Kp5-level show, taken from home in southern Alberta at latitude 51º N. The aurora was peaking with rays extending up to the zenith at top and covering the northern half of the sky.

But on this night about 30 minutes after this when the main show faded and retreated to the north, we had a showing of the STEVE aurora to the south, a band of hot flowing gas called Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement – with the characteristic colours of STEVE. Another image shows this.

This is looking north with west to the left and east to the right. The Big Dipper is at top.

Technical:
This is a single 30-second exposure with the 7Artisans 10mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8 on the Nikon Z8 at IS 800.

A showing of the STEVE band of unusual aurora after midnight on the night of April 18-19, 2026, taken from home in southern Alberta at latitude 51º N. The main aurora had put on an extensive show covering the northern sky this night with a Kp5 level storm. It had peaked around midnight, but by 12:30 am the main aurora had faded and retreated farther north.

But to the south the band of hot flowing gas called STEVE – Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement – had appeared. It showed the characteristic colours of STEVE – a mauve band with green "picket-fence" fingers below and between them a whitish componnent. That is the usual behaviour of STEVE – he appears as or after the main show subsides. The green fingers lasted, though faintly only to the camera, for another 30 minutes to about 1 am.

This is looking south with east to the left and west to the right. The Big Dipper is at top.

Technical:
This is a single 30-second exposure with the 7Artisans 10mm full-frame fish-eye lens at f/2.8 on the Nikon Z8 at IS 800.

071

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Here's a new blog post from me on the joys (!) of shooting nightscapes with film – and medium format film at that – in the good old days some 30 years ago. Was it possible? Yes, with limitations. Would I choose to shoot film now? No way! amazingsky.net/2026/04/17/f...

amazingsky.net

Fun with Film!

The author nostalgically reflects on nightscape photography using the Plaubel Makina 67 film camera, recalling experiences capturing Comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp. The piece highlights the challen…

020

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

The Orion "Integrity" capsule flew around the western (left) limb of the Moon as seen here to view features on the farside of the Moon in sunlight that no human had seen before. Faint Earthshine is visible on the night "dark" side of the Moon. This was at about 5 am MDT this morning.

$Technical: This is a blend of 6 exposures from 3.2 seconds to 1/10 second, through the Askar APO120 refractor at f/7 for 840mm focal length, with the Canon R5 at ISO 200. Exposures blended with luminosity masks.$

040

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

30 years ago this week ! — The great Comet Hyakutake was at its best. Here it is, with a disconnection event in the tail, and with the galaxy M101 caught in the tail. From March 25, 1996. With the Nikkor 105mm lens at f/2.5, with Fuji Super G 800 film, a single 5 min exposure.

0101

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Happy Equinox! This was the scene on Equinox Eve, March 19, with the thin 25-hour-old crescent Moon below Venus in the evening twilight sky. From home in southern Alberta. Details in the Alt Text.

This is the thin 25-hour-old crescent Moon below Venus in the evening sky, on March 19, 2026. The two were 5.5º apart at this time, so within a binocular field for a fine sight visually. But the thin Moon was obvious to the eye well before this in the twilight.

The high angle of the ecliptic and timing of the New Moon late on March 18 made it possible to sight the thin Moon within a day of it being officially a new phase between Earth and Sun. From farther east on the continent the Moon would have been younger still, but by nightfall at home in Alberta the Moon had "aged" to just over one day old.

The twilight sky was dark enough at the time I shot this at 8:28 pm MDT to allow the faint Earthshine to show up on the "dark side of the Moon."

Venus was beginning its favourable "evening star" appearance for spring and summer 2026.

Technical:
This 0.8-seconds with the Nikon Z8 at ISO 100 and the Nikkor 24-120mm zoom at 120mm and f/5, with the ground being a stack of 3 exposures to further smooth noise in the lifted shadows. On a fixed tripod, from the end of my driveway at home!

062

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

This is the total eclipse of the Moon of March 3, 2026, in a sequence over 30 minutes, through the mid-partial phase to totality. It shows the progression from left to right of the Moon entering the dark inner umbral shadow of the Earth and turning more and more red. Details in Alt Text.

The red colour in the umbra is from the light of all the sunsets and sunrises going on around the Earth.

However, the boundary between the red umbra and bright part of the Moon in the penumbra appears a pale blue-pink or magenta colour, from the effect of ozone in the upper atmosphere of Earth absorbing red light.

The Moon passed across the southern half of the umbra at this eclipse so the southern limb of the Moon always remained brighter than the northern limb of the Moon.

This was from home in southern Alberta, with images taken between 3:35 am to 4:05 am MST, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, on a relatively mild winter morning.

Incoming clouds prevented a full sequence during totality and during the partial phases after totality. I had to be happy with getting this set!

Technical:
All but the final image of totality are multi-exposure blends, each image being a blend of short to long exposures, typically 1/25-second to 10 seconds, to preserve the dynamic range between the still directly sunlit side of the Moon and the dark side in the umbra and lit by red sunlight filtering through Earth's atmosphere.

All were with the SvBony Mk127mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope at its f/11.8 f-ratio for 1500mm of focal length. The camera was the Canon Ra at ISO 100 to 400.

The original is 20,500 by 4,480 pixels.

0205

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Two views of the total eclipse of the Moon in the early morning at 4:04 am MST March 3, 2026, with a selfie with the gear taking the close-up image through the telescope as totality began. And clouds rolled in! This was from home in southern Alberta. Details in Alt Text.

$This is a selfie of me while shooting the total eclipse of the Moon on the morning of March 3, 2026, from home in southern Alberta. This was shortly after the start of totality at 4:10 am MST. I am shooting the eclipse with the Astro-Tech 90CFT refractor on the Sky-Watcher EQM35 mount. It was a mild winter night, but here at the start of totality clouds were beginning to move in from the west, and are lit by the lights from Calgary to the west. The Moon was in Leo and the bright blue star to the right of the Moon is Regulus. Technical: This is a single 10-second exposure at f/2.8 with the Nikkor 35mm lens on the Nimon Z8 at ISO 1600. I was focused for the distance so I am a little fuzzy! but it was 4 am!$ $This is the total eclipse of the Moon of March 3, 2026, captured close to the time of the start of totality, or "U2.," with the Moon's southeastern limb still bright near the edge of the umbral shadow. The bright edge shows a band of blue, usually created by ozone absorption in Earth's upper atmosphere. This was near "second contact" and so is sort of a "lunar diamond ring!" This was from home in southern Alberta at about 4:04 am MST. The field is 3.8º by 2.5º. The Moon was in Leo and some of the field stars show up though none were bright near the Moon. The brightest is 56 Leonis at left at 6th magnitude. However, it was about this time that high clouds were moving in from the west beginning to dim the Moon and dull the colours. Thus the glow around the Moon. Eventually the clouds won out and the Moon disappeared before the end of totality. Technical: This is a blend of 5 exposures from 1/2-second to 8 seconds, taken in rapid succession with Auto Exposure Bracketing, and blended with luminosity masks. This preserved detail in the bright limb while bringing out the darkened disk. All with the stock Canon R5 at ISO 400 on the Astro-Tech CFT90 refractor at f/6 (for 540mm focal length) with the First Light Optics 1x Flattener, and on the Sky-Watcher EQM-35 mount.$

050

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

The supposed great "Planet Parade" of 2026! This is bright Venus, dimmer Saturn above, and very dim Mercury right of Venus low in the dusk twilight Feb 28. I could not see Mercury even in binoculars, but the camera picked it up. With and without labels. Details in Alt Text.

Of these three planets, only Venus was bright and easily visible to the unaided eye; Saturn was barely so; and Mercury could not be seen even in binoculars, let alone to the eye. Only the very sharp lens picked it up on the frame, and I have exaggerated the visibility of all the planets here so they can be seen when viewing the image at typical sizes on screens. To complete the "parade" Jupiter was bright and easy to see over in the east well out of frame. Neptune was close to Saturn so technically in this image, but is was too faint and impossible to capture or see in the bright twilight. Uranus between Saturn and Jupiter was similarly faint enough to require binoculars to see but only if you knew exactly where to look.

Mercury this night was ending a fine evening appearance, its best for 2026, when it was higher, brighter, and easy to see earlier in the month. However, it was only magnitude 2.0 this night. Venus at magnitude -3.9 was beginning its bright spring evening appearance for 2026, and Saturn at magnitude +1.0 was ending its months-long fine evening show about to go behind the Sun, along with Neptune nearby.

Some faint 4th magnitude stars in Pisces and Cetus also show up in the sky, just!

Technical:
This is a single 0.4-second untracked exposure at f/2.8 with the Nikkor 85mm lens on the Nikon Z8 at ISO 100.

181

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

This is the waxing 6-day-old Moon, near the stars of the Pleiades on Feb 23, 2026, amid light cloud. The prominent crater at centre with its rim in sunlight is Albategnius. This view looks like the famous drawing of the Moon by Galileo (the inset) from 1609. Details in the Alt Text.

This is the waxing 6-day-old Moon, near the stars of the Pleiades on February 23, 2026, amid light cloud.

The prominent crater at centre with its rim in sunlight but floor in shadow, except for the central peak catching ths Sun, is Albategnius, with Hipparchus above it. This view looks like the famous drawing of the Moon by Galileo (shown in the inset) from 1609 that shows a similar large dark crater at the centre of the Moon's disk. This was one of the first astronomical observations made with a telescope.

Despite the clouds Earthshine is just visible illuminating the dark side of the Moon, as in Galileo's drawing.

The Moon was crossing the northern edge of the Pleiades star cluster this night, and some of the stars are visible, again despite the thin cloud present.

Technical:
A blend of a long 4-second exposure and a short 0.4-second exposure with the SvBony Mk127 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope at its native f/11.8 and with the Canon R5 at ISO 200.

161

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

This is a 360º all-sky panorama of the auroral arc during a Kp4-5 display on February 21, 2026, from home in southern Alberta on a chilly -20º C night. But it was clear! The aurora appeared just as a diffuse green arc across the north, with a touch of red visible to the camera. Details in Alt Text.

North is at bottom; south is ar top. West is at left; east to the right.

The waxing crescent Moon is bright at upper left. The Big and Little Dippers are below centre. Orion and the winter stars are at top. Jupiter is the brightest object at upper right in Gemini.

Technical:
This is a panorama of 4 segments, with the manual 7Artisans 10mm full-frame fish-eye lens, at f/2.8 on the Nikon Z8 at ISO 800 for 15 seconds each. The camera was turned to landscape orientation but the lens is wide enough to include the horizon up to past the zenith even when turned landscape. I only roughly guessed at the segment spacings when taking the shots, turning the camera about 90º between frames. It stitched perfectly in PTGui, with spherical projection.

0101

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Here is Saturn and Neptune in close conjunction, from Feb 10. They are similarly close all month but this is the last time this century we will see these two worlds this close together in the sky. Details in Alt Text.

$This is bright yellowish Saturn, at bottom, below smaller, dimmer and bluish Neptune, the brightest object at top. They were just 1º 08' apart this night and similarly close through February 2026. They had been close together in the summer of 2025 then pulled apart again. But Saturn's motion brought it back close to Neptune this month for the last time in decades, with the worlds low in the southwest evening sky about to disappear behind the Sun. They were in Pisces. Though visually not spectacular, this was the last time we will see these two planets this close together in the 21st century. While Saturn passes only 7 arc minutes above Neptune on June 7, 2061 they will be just 3º from the Sun and invisible in the day sky. By the time they emerge into the dawn sky they will be 3º apart. And their meeting in August 2096 isn't very favourable for viewing either. So enjoy this rare meeting of two outer planets. Saturn's moon Rhea is a dot to the right of Saturn's overexposed disk. Titan was too close to Saturn and Triton was too close to Neptune for either of their largest moons to show up at this scale. Technical: This is a stack of 8 x 30-second exposures with the Askar APO120mm refractor at f/5.6 and the Canon R5 at ISO 800, tracking on the ZWO AM5 mount, but with no guiding.$

030

Alan Dyer @amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Two versions, with and without labels, of the autumn stars and Milky Way setting over the prairie landscape at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta, at moonrise on Feb. 5. Details in the Alt Text.

This frames the stars of the northern autumn sky and Milky Way setting over Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a U.N. World Heritage Site, in southern Alberta near Fort MacLeod.

Technical -This is a blend of:
— A stack of 4 x 1-minute exposures, tracked for the sky, with no filter. At f/2.8 and ISO 1600.
— A stack of 2 x 2-minute exposures, tracked for the sky with a Maven 20nm H-Alpha filter for the red nebulas. At f/2.8 and ISO 3200.
— A stack of 3 x 30-second exposures, tracked for the sky with a Maven StarWalker diffusion filter for the star glow effect. At f/2.8 and ISO 1600.
— A stack of 3 x 2-minute exposures, untracked for the ground, with no filter, taken with the Moon in the east behind the camera about 5º up at this point and in some cloud but clear enough to light the scene. At ISO 1600 and at f/8 , for depth of field.

0167