Night Sky

Night sky photographs are challenging in several ways. They challenge your gear's capabilities. They challenge your knowledge of the night sky. They require patience and practice. Most of all, they require you to go out at ungodly hours of the night. I think the results are worth all of that.

Here's a three-panel series of photos of the moon's occultation of Mars on 13 January 2025. It was a very cool sight.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS over Lake Champlain, Burlington, Vermont

This was taken near the end of the comet's naked eye visibility from earth. My wife and I were in town for a visit and got perfect weather for this shot. That's Venus hanging above Adirondack Mountains on the left.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS with Anti-Tail, Jamestown, RI

The "anti-tail" consists of larger dust particles that remain in the comet's orbital plane and form a disk along the comet's orbit.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS from Fort Getty, Jamestown, RI

A meteor from the Perseids shower streaks across the sky in Charlestown, RI on 14 August 2021.

Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction, 21 December 2020

While admittedly not a great photo, it was taken with my Sigma 150-600 lens, not a telescope. I am amazed at what we can do with photographic lenses with the right conditions and a lot of patience.

Mercury's transit across the sun, 11 November 2019, Narragansett Beach, RI

Next to the total solar eclipse of 2024, this was the coolest thing I'd ever seen in the sky. My brother and I watched for a couple of hours as Mercury traveled across the sun's face.