RASC Calgary Centre - Alberta Star Party 2006
September 21-24, 2006
Page created October 17, 2006Photos by Larry McNish
I went up to the ERO on Thursday the 21st after the General Meeting - but it rained.
Friday the 22nd was clear but very wet with dew.
Saturday the 23rd was clear and cool and we were treated to a blazing aurora from the NE to the NW horizon, then it clouded over for a while. When the clouds cleared there was a beautiful dark sky with brilliant stars fighting the last remnants of the aurora. I spent the night taking a time-lapse movie of the aurora and then Orion rising before dawn.
Unfortunately I couldn't stay over for Sunday the 24th.
1. Aurora panorama shots taken with my little Canon PowerShot A530 5 megapixel "consumer" digital camera. Three or four shots were taken for each panorama. Exposures were tripod mounted, 15 seconds, ISO 800, with the 5.8 to 23.2 zoom lens set at 5.8 mm for f2.6 and merged together with Canon's PhotoStitch software. The images were not "enhanced", i.e. this is what the northern aurora looked like that night!
2. One of the frames from my time-lapse movie - taken with a Canon EOS Rebel DSLR - Orion lit from the left by the Aurora.
3. A couple of daytime shots - a couple of the larger scopes there and my setup at ASP2006.
