VLA, Very Large Array, Mars, Plains Of San Augustine, NM
VLA, Very Large Array with Mars on the Plains Of San Augustine, New Mexico. I made a quick overnight trip south to meet my friend Larry to photograph the Very Large Array (The National Radio Astronomy Observatory) on the Plains of San Augustine near Magdelena, N.M. We wanted to get some of the antennas lined up with the Milky Way, Mars, the Moon, and Venus. In the image below, Mars appears to be acquired by the antenna. The trail of lights is a steady stream of employee cars arriving at 6 am this morning. They used to arrive by shuttle buses, Covid 19 changed that. More to follow. Thanks for looking. G
Mars, Moon, Night And Day, San Cristobal
Mars, Moon night and day from the deck in San Cristobal New Mexico. This morning I looked out the window, decided I liked what I saw, so I got up and walked across the deck to get this shot of the red planet Mars and our Moon to the west. Below is the scene in the eastern sky yesterday evening. Thanks for looking. G
Jupiter, Jupiter’s Moons, Our Moon
Jupiter, Jupiter’s Moons, our Moon. Last night, looking up from the deck revealed this beautiful alignment of Saturn, Jupiter and four moons with our moon waxing. Saturn was too small and farther away to include in this photo. This photo comprises one exposure for our moon and another for Jupiter and it’s moons. Thanks for looking. Keep looking up. G
Red Barn, San Luis Valley, Milky Way
Red Barn in the San Luis Valley under the Milky Way yesterday evening. Sitting in a chair, tripod set up, a pleasing composition, waiting for it to get dark. It was a beautiful sky after the clouds and fire haze cleared. Half the fun of doing night photography is being out under pristine skies enjoying the peace and tranquility, a pack of coyotes far off in the distance, their chatter echoing across the valley, and a nice cup of tea. If nothing else, landscape photography keeps me in the outdoors, in nature and good company. Thanks for looking. G
Starry Night, Satellite, Rio Grande, Pilar, New Mexico
Starry night in the Rio Grande Gorge, Pilar, New Mexico. I was setting up a composition for the milky way over the gorge and river when I spotted a satellite in one frame, so I quickly kept exposing shots and made a composite of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites cruising across the skies here in NM. Personally, I think there is enough junk in space, plus, Mr. Musk plans to add some 80,000 satellites to the junk already up there. It’s quite a controversy among astronomers. Almost every frame that night had some man made object coursing across the sky. Thanks for looking. G
Full Moon, San Cristobal Valley, NM
Full Moon, San Cristobal Valley, NM last night, waiting for the exact moment the moon is full and the subsequent eclipse. This image was at 10:44pm when the moon was precisely full. I didn’t see any difference at all that indicated an eclipse, but tonight I’m going to watch for the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn around 10:30pm. If you have binoculars you should be able to spot Jupiter’s moons, though Saturn’s rings maybe a little more elusive to see. Thanks for looking. G
American Creek, Moreno Valley, New Mexico
American Creek, in the Moreno Valley, northern New Mexico where the stars in the sky reach down below your feet. I created this composition to capture the feeling I get when standing in the vast wide open spaces in New Mexico. That was then. Now the few apps I use on my phone give me a virtual reality view of the sky dome above and below my feet and every which way I care to look. Thanks for looking. G
Mars, Crescent Lunar Occultation 02-18-2020
Mars with Lunar occultation (covered), 02-18-2020. Mars crept out from behind the Moon and appeared through the clouds this morning. Shortly after I made this image at 5:57am the clouds dispersed. Had I stirred from my sleep a couple of hours earlier I would have been able to observe Mars get swallowed up by the bright crescent. Thanks for looking. G
Saint Francis Church, Street Light
Saint Francis Church. Basking in the glow of the street light just over my shoulder and a little ambient light from the pale eastern sky. If I never went anywhere ever again I wouldn’t be short of subject matter around here in northern New Mexico. Thanks for looking. G
Harvest Moon Rise, Sangre De Cristos, NM
Harvest moon rise, over the Sangre De Cristos, mountains illuminating the clouds. This is the view from our driveway in San Cristobal on the night of Friday the 13th. I had meant to post it on the day, but…! So here it is. The warm color is from a forest fire controlled burn in the foothills and the smokey haze affected the color of light in this scene. Happy harvesting and thanks for looking. G
The Mittens, Merrick Butte, Car Headlights
The Mittens with Merrick Butte and car headlights. Monument Valley, Navajo country at night. Many aspects of the southwest are stunning. This scene, with headlights from a truck driven by a Monument Valley resident is encumbered by the light pollution from distant towns. Farmington NM, Bluff UT, Cortez CO and more illuminate the horizon. The bright foreground light is pollution from the hotel on the valley rim, formally occupied by a campground frequented by large groups of German tourists playing western movie tunes on boom boxes. Things change. Thanks for looking. G
Perseid Meteor Shower, Milky Way
Perseid Meteor Shower, Milky Way. Well, one meteor on this particular night and we only saw five all told. I had used Mars to set the camera focus point when this resulting image occurred. The fireball at the lower end combines with Mars for an obliterating effect in its termination. The streak above to the right is caused by the flashing lights of an airplane. I had meant to post this image a few days ago after it happened. My apologies. Thanks for looking. G
Here’s another image from August 13, 2016.
https://geraintsmith.com/potd/pages/archive/august_16/aug_13_16.html
Landscape Of The Night, March Blue Moon
Landscape of the night. On March 31st, the full blue moon rose over the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the backdrop to our village of San Cristobal, NM. I love that we can step outside on any evening, look up to the sky and gaze on the shifting landscape of the night. Thanks for looking. G
White Bridge Over The Rio Grande
White Bridge. A car crosses the Taos Junction bridge over the Rio Grande, it’s headlights illuminate the girders with the Milky Way overhead. Here is the Bridge in Red illuminated by the tail lights of a vehicle. Both in the Orilla Verde Recreation Area, Pilar, New Mexico, and under the starry skies of the Milky Way.
Milky Way Over Cerro Pedernal, Abiquiu, New Mexico
Another Super Moon Rising
