Looking back in time

When observing the night sky we're looking back in time. The light from the stars we see have traveled for many years before it reaches us here on Earth. In this photo of the Milky Way and an old church ruin, we can take a look in the past.

The big red nebula near the center is the North American Nebula. The light from this nebula had been traveling for about 1500 years before it reach my camera this night. As a comparison, the old ruin in the foreground is from a church that was build 900 years ago. When they started building that church in 1200 AD, the nebula light I caught on this night had done 60% of it's distance to Earth.

At the top of the image you can see the Andromeda galaxy as a small disc shaped object under the tree. The light from Andromeda has traveled for 2,5 billion years before it reach my camera. When that light started its journey, the first members of the genus Homo appeared on Earth.

It's quite mind blowing to think of this while standing under a starry night sky.

Nikon D810A + Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14 mm f/2.8
Exposure 20 sec. at ISO 3200

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Half moon rises

Earlier this week I went out to photograph the Northern Lights and got some great images. On my way home I had planed to take photos of the 50% lit moon rising above the horizon. I had scouted this location where I would get the big residential house Fagerskrapan and the Vallsundsbron bridge in the foreground. I was very pleased to see that the water in lake Storsjön was still so the city lights reflected very nicely in the water.

Shooting moonrises like this is always a thrill and I enjoy the planning and scouting as much as the photo shoot itselves.

Two shot panorama with a Nikon D800E and Nikon AF-S 600 mm f/4

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Cygnus Loop

This is the Cygnus Loop, an emission nebula measuring nearly 3° across (Six times the size of a full moon in the sky). This nebula is a large remnant after a supernova, a massive stellar explosion that occurred between 5,000 to 8,000 years ago. The distance from Earth is estimated to 1500 light years.

Photo was taken using a Nikon D810A with a Nikon 180mm f/2.8 Ai-s lens at f/4.0. Total exposure time is 1 hour (60 x 1 min) at ISO 1600. AstroTrac used for unguided tracking.

The Cygnus Loop

Behind the scenes with location of Cygnus Loop marked.
The green down to the right is some Northern light.

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Supermoon through the clouds

Last night I got back home from the big photo fair Fotomässan in Stockholm where I held a couple of lectures on my astrophotography in the Nikon booth.

During more or less the entire train ride home I could see the 98% lit moon outside the window. It lit up the winter landscape in a very beautiful way. Upon arrival the clouds was blocking the moon but small gaps passed by from time to time so I decided to wait out one and take a shot of the moon. This photo was taken about 12 hours before the moon reaches lunar perigee, the point when the moon is closest to Earth.

Sadly the weather for tonight looks really bad so I will most likely miss out this supermoon. But as I said in earlier posts, every full moon rise is worth watching so I'll have another go on December 14.

Nikon D800E, Nikon AF-S 300 mm f/2.8
Exposure 1 sec with ISO 100 at 300 mm f/4.0

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Time for a Supermoon

Don't miss tomorrows Supermoon. It will be the biggest moon since 1948 and it won't be as big until 2034. With your naked eye you won't experience the moon as bigger but since it will be 14% larger than normal, a photo of this moon and a regular full moon will show the difference in size. I recommend you to watch the moon as it rises above the horizon, Supermoon or not, watching a full moon rise is always a beautiful experience.

When it comes to taking photo of this Supermoon I also recommend doing it just as the moon rises above the horizon to get a more exciting photo. Use a long focal length to get really close to the moon. And don't forget to take a photo of a normal full moon with the same focal length so you can compare it to this larger moon. Good luck and clear skies!

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