Astronomy Picture Of the Day at NASA

Today I'm featured as Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) at NASA with my 360° panorama showing both sunset and Earth shadow in a remote mountain area of Jämtland, Sweden.

This panorama is made from 120 still photos taken at a height of 200 meters above the ground. The panorama is a 3 x 8 mosaic where each photo consists of 5 exposure bracketed shots to cover the big dynamic range of both the sunset and Earth shadow.

To the right you can see that the Sun has just set and a small sun pillar is visible just above the horizon giving away the Sun's position. To the left above the horizon is the dark blue Earth shadow with its belt of Venus above. In the middle of the sky the the First Quarter Moon is visible above the mountains, separating these two beautiful sky phenomenon.

The big peak to the right is Storsnasen, some 1400 meters above sea level.

Earth shadow and sunset panorama.

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Don't forget the Earth shadow

I never get tired of seeing our closest star set below the horizon. Seeing how the landscape changes as the warm light gets fainter by the minute. Every sunset has its personality depending och location, weather and season. Here in the higher latitudes we have our bright summer nights and during winter the Sun sets in the afternoon and darkness falls quite fast.

Midwinter sunset with a bright solar halo.

Another beautiful thing about a sunset is what happens right after the Sun has set. If turn around, you can slowly see the Earth shadow rising from the horizon. A low horizon is preferred to get a better view of the phenomena. 

As twilight deepens a dark blue band slowly rises upwards from the horizon. This band is the shadow of the Earth projected on the atmosphere. Above the blue shadow band you can also se a pink band called the anti-twilight arch or "Belt of Venus". The pink color comes from scattered and deeply reddened sunlight mixed with the deep blues colors of the sky.

Moonrise in Earth shadow and Belt of Venus.

The same thing happens before a sunrise. Look in the opposite direction of the rising Sun and you will see the Earth shadow sinking towards the horizon as the Sun rises.

Earth shadow is also visible before sunrise.

So next time you're watching a sunset, stay out a bit longer and don't forget to look behind you to see the Earth shadow rise.

Don't forget to look behind you after sunset.

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Viking sunset

Last night I got the opportunity to shoot two vikings during the sunset. These guys are experienced actors and it was a blast working with them throughout the night. The light was just amazing and I don't think I ever experienced a session that has resulted in so many good images, almost every shot is epic in some way.

Planning and shooting a sunset

I never get tired of watching a sunrise, sunset, moonrise or moonset. All these events are always beautiful to watch and it's also very exciting because you never know what might happen regarding light and atmospheric phenomena.

Last Sunday the weather was looking good for the evening and I had looked up a location that would give me a nice foreground, in this case a large building. I think planning your shot is half the fun and that's something I really enjoy doing. When planning my shot I usually use Google Maps and tools like The Photographer's Ephemeris. Other useful tools are planetarium software like Stellarium 

Always be careful when shooting the Sun since its so bright, you could damage your eyes. Never look straight into the Sun through your camera. Regarding filters, this sunset was quite cloudy so I didn't need any filters, otherwise you could use a ND-filter to dim the Sun.

As soon as I arrive on the location I've planned, I start by checking the surroundings to see what I can work with regarding foregrounds etc. I also double check that I'm in a spot where the Sun or the Moon will pass behind the planed distant object. Then I usually start off by taking some wide angle shots while the Sun is above the horizon and I got some really nice a warm light.

Here's a shot showing lake Storsjön and you can see the building to the right of the Sun. Above the Sun you can see a faint Sun pillar.

Nikon D810A, 1/250 sec. ISO 200, 70 mm f/8

As the Sun gets closer to the horizon I switch to a longer focal length to really get up close with the Sun. In this case I was shooting at a focal length of 1,200 mm. Quite extreme but in that way you get a much more dramatic scene. The building was located 13 km away from me at the time.

Nikon D810A, 1/2000 sec. ISO 400, 1200 mm f/11

In the shot above you can see two sunspots on the solar disc. Both these sunspots are about the same size as the Earth's diameter. As you can see the clouds can sometimes work with you adding a lot of drama to the scene. The sky above the Sun looks much better with this thin layer of clouds that it would have done without them. But I would have preferred not having the lower thicker clouds to get a cleaner solar disc, but they also adds a bit of drama.

Later on the Sun passed behind the building as planned.

Nikon D810A, 1/500 sec. ISO 400, 1200 mm f/11

The image above is a panoramic image of three shots. I did that to get the reflections of the Sun in the water. You should always be alert to whats happening in the scene regarding light, reflections or shadows. For just a brief moment there could be something that you don't want to miss.

So, how close will you get with a focal length of 1,200 mm? Here's a 100% crop from a photo I took later on.

Nikon D810A, 1/500 sec. ISO 400, 1200 mm f/8

As you can see a really long focal length can create some dramatic shots but it's also really hard to get sharp shots. When you enlarge a scene using a longer focal length, you also enlarge all the errors. So if you have lots of turbulence in the air you will have a hard time getting a sharp image. In this case I was shooting over water and that usually gives a much sharper image due to stable air.

So, keep shooting those sunsets, it's not cliche, it's so much fun and excitement.

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Back in northern Sweden

I've been traveling in the south of Sweden for almost 4 weeks and now I'm finally back in Östersund. I had a great time and got to see some starry night skies again. Here in the north we still can't see any stars but it won't be long now. Here are a couple of images from my trip.

Sunset in Blekinge

Night in the forest in Småland

Sunset in Malmö

Moonset in Malmö

Jupiter and Venus conjunction in Denmark

Moonrise over Gothenburg

Great Lake Ice

This is a video that I shot on December 12 last year. It was a really cold winter day with temperatures below -20°C. I was out during the whole day and shot the ice forming on lake Storsjön. It was fantastic to see the first ray of lights from the Sun hit the ice covered landscape and colors it in its warm colors. Hopefully this video will show you what I experienced that day.


Music Chris Zabriskie - Clynder Three from the album Cylinders.

Sunset over Åreskutan

Photo number 4 in my 2014 recap.

Besides moonrises and moonsets I also did a lot of sunrises and sunsets. Here is a shot from April that shows an obscured Sun about to set behind Åreskutan, the biggest ski resort in Sweden.

Unusual Sunset

For some time I've had an idea that I would like to shoot a scene during sunset and work with silhouettes against the solar disc. In October of 2014 I finally got around to do it and I called up a couple of friends to see if they were willing to do some acting.

I originally hadn't planed to use sword fighters, but I thought it could be an interesting concept to have some theatrical action in the scene. My two friends are trained amateur stuntmen and used to handle swords so I felt confident that no one was going to get hurt.

A lot of time went into location scouting, I wanted a hill clear of any big trees and buildings and with an even surface so that the action would be clearly visible and the actors easily could move around.

An interesting part in the movie is at the 01:30 mark when you see the exhalation lit up by the Sun.


Music Koke Nunez Gomez - Soul of Warrior

What if...

This is a composite image of white light photography through a normal tele lens and a shot of the sun through a hydrogen alpha telescope. The size of the hydrogen alpha Sun is scaled to match the size that was seen through the tele lens.

Just imagine how it would be like to see a sunset like this.

Shot taken in May 2013 on the island of Frösön close to the city of Östersund, Sweden. The church in the foreground is Rödö kyrka.

BTS - Sunset With Sunspots

Here's a behind the scenes photo from when I was shooting the sunset the other day. The little blue box on top of the telescope is the camera, a monochrome camera with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.

I sat in the shadow beneath the stand to better see the computer screen and be able to monitor the recording. In this picture, I've embedded a actual screenshot from the original movie onto the computer screen to give you a fell of how it looked.

As you can see, the camera was somewhat tilted and not aligned to the horizon, so that has been corrected in post production. Also, since using a diagonal mirror on the telescope, the Sun is moving in the "wrong" direction in the recorded material, so that also needed to be fixed. The last thing I did was to add a yellowish color to the Sun to make it look like we're used to see the Sun.

The original movie is 17 minutes long and shows the entire sunset. In the final movie I've just used 5 minutes where the Sun is passing behind the radar tower and speeded the movie up 5 times to save you guys some time :-)

Sunset With Sunspots

Yesterday I went out to shoot a sunset I've planed since last summer. This time of the year, the Sun passes right behind a big radar tower if you stand at the Swedish National Biathlon Arena in Östersund. The radar tower is located about 10 km away from the arena in a small village called Ås. I shoot the movie using my solar telescope to capture the structures on the Sun. The timing was perfect and the Sun looked really nice since it was full of sunspots and big filaments.



Music: Chris Zabriskie - Cylinder Three

Vårt vackra Öland

För ett tag sedan var jag nere på Öland tillsammans med min familj. Där hälsade vi på några goda vänner i några dagar och jag passade givetvis på att ge mig ut i den Öländska natten. En sak som återigen slog mig är att det är ett fantastiskt vacker ljus nere på Öland efter att solen gått ner. Nästan varje kväll klarnade det upp och jag fick njuta av den vackra kvällshimlen. Jag fick också se lite svaga nattlysande moln ett par kvällar, något som vi har väldigt lite av här uppe i norr då himlen är för ljus.

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A while ago I was down on Öland with my family. There we visited some good friends for a few days and I took the opportunity go out in the Ölandic night. One thing that struck me once again is that it is an incredibly beautiful evening light on Öland. Almost every night the weather cleared up and I got to enjoy the beautiful evening sky. I also got to see a little noctilucent clouds.

Ett års väntan är över

Den här solnedgången har jag väntat på ett år och jag höll nästan på att missa den på grund av olika orsaker. Det är några dagar då solen går ner på ett ställe där det i horisonten syns ett antal vindkraftverk och i förgrunden även en kyrka. Jag såg den här bilden förra sommaren, men då var det en bit in i juni och solen gick ner närmare norr (ännu mer till höger i bild). Det är mycket som skall stämma med den här typen av bilder, dels skall det vara klar och fin luft nere vid vinkraftverken för att dom skall synas mot solskivan. Jag vill också gärna ha med molnen ovanför solen för att få en mer dramatisk och spännande bild.

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I've waited a year for this sunset and I almost missed it due to a number of reasons. A few days during the spring, the Sun is setting right behind a couple of wind turbines and a church. I saw this picture last year but then it was to late into the spring so the Sun was setting closer to North (To the right in the picture). These kind of pictures are very challenging to take since there is so many things that need to fall into place. The air needs to be clear down by the ground and I also want some clouds above the Sun so the scene becomes more dramatic.

Grande finale?

Den astronomiska natten har nu upphört här i Östersund. Det råder astronomisk natt då solen är mer än 18 grader under horisonten och nu när de ljusa sommarmånaderna närmar sig, kommer solen inte längre att gå under denna brytpunkt vilket innebär att det inte längre blir helt mörkt om nätterna.

Jag och två kompisar åkte ut för att se om den utlovade solvinden skulle orsaka något norrsken, men så blev det inte. Istället fick vi en magisk kväll med flera fina observationer. Vi såg bland annat en smal månskära gå ned mot horisonten samtidigt som den färgades allt rödare. Kometen PanStarrs syntes fortfarande, men inte med blotta ögat. Andromedagalaxen lyckades jag urskilja med blotta ögat, men det går snart inte längre på grund av de ljusa nätterna som kommer. Planeten Jupiter som gjort oss sällskap under hela vintern kommer att synas ett tag till.

Sammantaget en magisk sista natt med varmt väder (Runt 0 grader Celsius) och helt vindstilla. Mestadels stod jag bara och njöt av stjärnhimlen med en känsla av vemod. Nu är som sagt den astronomiska natten slut här i norr och vetskapen att det dröjer ett halvår innan jag får se mina stjärnor igen är lite jobbig, samma visa varje vår. Och inte minst kometen PanStarrs, var det sista gången vi sågs?

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The astronomical night has now come to an end here in Östersund. There is astronomical night when the sun is more than 18 degrees below the horizon, and now when the bright summer months approaching, the sun will no longer go below this point, which means that it is no longer completely dark at night.

Me and two friends went out to see if we could see any auroras, but we didn't see any during the entire night. Instead we had a magical evening with some excellent observations. We saw a crescent Moon set behind the horizon. Comet PanStarrs was still visible but not with the naked eye. I did manage to see Andromeda Galaxy with the naked eye, but that won't be possible soon because of the bright nights to come. The planet Jupiter will still be visible for some time.

All in all, a magical last night with warm weather (around 0 degrees Celsius) and no wind. Mostly, I was just enjoying the starry night with a sense of sadness. As I said earlier, the astronomical night is soon over and the knowledge that it will take half a year before I get to see my stars again is a bit sad, same ting every spring. And not least comet PanStarrs, was this the last time we saw each other?

Kometen PanStarrs

Igår hälsade jag på min vän och astrokollega Peter Rosén i Stockholm. Planen var att vi tillsammans skulle försöka få en första bild av kometen PanStarrs från Peters fantastiskt vackert belägna takterass. Enligt prognosen skulle den inte gå att se förrän idag den 11 mars, men envisa som vi är så ville vi se om det inte gick att motbevisa detta. Det var en eftermiddag med bitande kyla och lätt vind, så vi fick verkligen kämpa för att hålla oss varma och koncentrerade.

Efter att solen gått ner så började spaningarna efter kometen. Vi lyckades inte se den visuellt i någon kikare eller på kameradisplayen på någon av våra kameror, så vi trodde att vi var besegrade. Senare på natten gick Peter igenom sina bilder och lyckades då hitta kometen, klicka här för att se första bilden av PanStarrs tagen från Sverige.

Nu kommer kometen att vandra allt högre på himlen för varje kväll, men samtidigt blir den också ljussvagare. Tyvärr ser väderprognosen riktigt illa ut för våra trakter de kommande dagarna, så vi får hoppas på ett väderomslag.

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See the first image of comet PanStarrs from Sweden taken yesterday by my friend Peter Rosén, Stockholm Sweden. Below are some photos from behind the scenes.

Film från solnedgången 18 juni

Jag har satt samman en film från de bilder jag tog vid solnedgången den 18 juni. I slutet av filmen visas en timelapse av själva solnedgången som uppvisade de sällsynta gröna och blå ljusblixtarna.

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A short movie of the sunset on the 18th of June 2012.