Tags archives: sky

 

Extreme plane spotting at Maho Beach, Saint Martin (20 pictures)

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Due to the unique proximity of low flying airliners, the location is very popular with plane spotters. This is one of the few places in the world where aircraft can be viewed in their flightpath just outside the end of the runway. Watching airliners pass over the beach is such a popular activity that daily arrivals and departures airline timetables are displayed on a board in most bars and restaurants on the beach, and the Sunset Bar and Grill has a speaker on its outside deck that broadcasts the radio transmissions between pilots and the airport’s control tower.

 

The waterfall and the world at night

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Image Credit & Copyright: Stéphane Vetter (Nuits sacrées)

Image Credit & Copyright: Stéphane Vetter (Nuits sacrées)

Above this boreal landscape, the arc of the Milky Way and shimmering aurorae flow through the night. Like an echo, below them lies Iceland’s spectacular Godafoss, the Waterfall of the Gods. Shining just below the Milky Way, bright Jupiter is included in the panoramic nightscape recorded on March 9. Faint and diffuse, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) appears immersed in the auroral glow. The digital stitch of four frames is a first place winner in the 2013 International Earth and Sky Photo Contest on Dark Skies Importance organized by The World at Night.

 

Comet PANSTARRS Just After Sunset

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Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Cook

Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Cook

Have you seen the comet? As Comet PANSTARRS fades, careful observers — even with unaided eyes — should still be able to find the shedding ice ball on the western horizon just after sunset. Pictured above, Comet PANSTARRS (C/2011 L4) was pointed out from a hilltop last week on First Encounter Beach in Massachusetts, USA. The comet was discovered by — and is named for — the Pan-STARRS astronomical sky survey that discovered it. As the comet now recedes from both the Earth and the Sun, it will remain visible further into the night, although binoculars or a small telescope will soon to be needed to find it.

 

Galaxy Cove Vista

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Image Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal Andreo (Deep Sky Colors)

Image Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal Andreo (Deep Sky Colors)

To see a vista like this takes patience, hiking, and a camera. Patience was needed in searching out just the right place and waiting for just the right time. A short hike was needed to reach thisrugged perch above a secluded cove in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in California, USA. And a camera was needed for the long exposure required to bring out the faint light from stars and nebulae in the background Milky Way galaxy. Moonlight and a brief artificial flash illuminated the hidden beach and inlet behind nearby trees in the above composite image taken about two weeks ago. Usually obscuredMcWay Falls is visible just below the image center, while the Pacific Ocean is in view to its right.

 

Partial Solar Eclipse with Airplane

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Image Credit & Copyright: Phillip Calais

Image Credit & Copyright: Phillip Calais

It was just eight minutes after sunrise, last week, and already there were four things in front of the Sun. The largest and most notable was Earth’s Moon, obscuring a big chunk of the Sun’s lower limb as it moved across the solar disk, as viewed from Fremantle, Australia. This was expected as the image was taken during a partial solar eclipse — an eclipse that left sunlight streaming around all sides of the Moon from some locations.

 

 

Sunset at Dog Rocks

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Photographer: Phil Thomson; Phil's Web site

Photographer: Phil Thomson; Phil's Web site

The glorious twilight sky above was captured at Dog Rocks, Batesford, near Geelong, Australia on January 18, 2013. I happened to be the only one here this evening and was treated to these gold and red hues just after the Sun dipped below the horizon. Mid-level clouds were positioned just right to reflect the reddened sunlight. Without clouds or aerosols of some kind, sunsets and sunrises are generally lackluster. Notice also the set of faintcrepuscular rays just to the right of the silhouetted juniper in the foreground.

 

 

Milky Way and Stone Tree (2 pictures)

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Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel López (El Cielo de Canarias)

Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel López (El Cielo de Canarias)

What’s that next to the Milky Way? An unusual natural rock formation known as Roque Cinchado or Stone Tree found on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife. A famous icon, Roque Cinchado is likely a dense plug of cooled volcanic magma that remains after softer surrounding rock eroded away. Majestically, the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy is visible arcing across the right of the above seven image panoramic mosaic taken during the summer of 2010. On the far right is the Teide volcano complete with a lenticular cloud hovering near its peak.

 

Milky Way Over Quiver Tree Forest

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Image Credit & Copyright: Florian Breuer

Image Credit & Copyright: Florian Breuer

In front of a famous background of stars and galaxies lies some of Earth’s more unusual trees. Known as quiver trees, they are actually succulent aloe plants that can grow to tree-like proportions. The quiver tree name is derived from the historical usefulness of their hollowed branches as dart holders. Occurring primarily in southern Africa, the trees pictured in the above 16-exposure composite are in Quiver Tree Forest located in southern Namibia. Some of the tallest quiver trees in the park are estimated to be about 300 years old. Behind the trees is light from the small town ofKeetmanshoop, Namibia. Far in the distance, arching across the background, is the majestic central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Even further in the distance, visible on the image left, are the Large andSmall Magellanic Clouds, smaller satellite galaxies of the Milky Way that are prominent in the skies of Earth’s southern hemisphere.