AmazingSky

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.

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.

This frames the fairly close conjunction of Venus (brightest) above Jupiter in the evening twilight of June 8, 2026. They were 1.75º apart this night. They are over the Badlands landscape of the Red Deer River valley north of Drumheller, Alberta on the "Dinosaur Trail."

The planets are below the stars Castor (above) and Pollux in Gemini, the bright stars at top. Dim Mercury is also in the scene, very low at right just above the normal dark clouds right of centre.

The two bright planets are embedded in what look like glowing noctilucent clouds, as they appear bright and bluish, the characteristic of NLCs. If these are NLCs this was my first sighting of them this 2026 season which lasts from June through July at my latitude of 51º N in southern Alberta.

This was from the Horsethief Canyon Viewpoint 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 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.

This frames the fairly close conjunction of Venus (brightest) above Jupiter in the evening twilight of June 8, 2026. They were 1.75º apart this night.

They are below Pollux in Gemini, the bright star at top. Dim Mercury is also in the scene, very low at right just above the normal dark clouds.

However, the two bright planets are embedded in what look like glowing noctilucent clouds, as they appear bright and bluish, the characteristic of NLCs. If these are NLCs this was my first sighting of them this 2026 season which lasts from June through July at my latitude of 51º N in southern Alberta.

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.

Here are a couple of views of the summer Milky Way across the east and some solstice twilight and aurora to the north at left. But the main subject is the airglow bands of red and green running east-west. The time-lapse these frames are from show the airglow bands moving right to left (south to north).

Only the camera typically picks up airglow bands (these are 10 second exposures), though they can be bright enough to be visible to the eye as grey streaks.

Details are in the individual photo descriptions.

Mark June 8 and 9 on your calendar and hope for clear skies as we will be treated to a wonderful sight of Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, close together in the evening sky. They are prominent now but coming closer together each night.

Sky & Telescope magazine has the details.

Venus, Jupiter Converge in Stunning June 9th Dusk Conjunction A beautiful conjunction is coming, and all you need are your eyes to enjoy it.

Astrophotographers may find my new review here of interest, as I test five fish-eye lenses for the demands of astrophotography.

A fish-eye can be great for all-sky captures of an aurora or the Milky Way. Today, we have several good fish-eyes to pick from, all from China for under $300 US.

Do share the link if it's of interest!

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…

Here are four views of the close conjunction of the waxing crescent Moon above Venus on May 18, in a superb evening sky with Jupiter and the last of the winter stars setting.

The conjunction is reflected in the waters of Crawling Valley Lake in southern Alberta near Bassano. Included is a panorama sweeping from west to north.

Details are in the individual photo descriptions.

Here's short music video of the aurora of May 15/16, 2026, from home in Alberta. It was notable for the blue tinted tops to the curtains and the appearance of blue rays during the display, captured in the time-lapse which compresses 2 hours of the aurora into 2 minutes.

The details are in the description on YouTube.

Enjoy!

Blue Aurora in Twilight This 2-minute video captures 2 hours of the aurora of May 15/16, 2026, from home in southern Alberta. At this time of year and at this latitude (51º N) the t...