Milky Way

Appreciated and Photographed

Just a few clouds at sunset, Thursday

The skies began clearing and a brisk breeze brought temperatures down into the low 80’s around sunset at the Treehouse. I charged batteries, and gathered up cameras, tripods, and a couple of flashlights for an 8:30 departure. Night time temps were a chilly 76 degrees at the lake. Long sleeves and long pants were de rigeur.

Big Dipper and Polaris (North star - upper right corner) Lumix FZ8

Margaret Miller accompanied me on the quest to get a picture of the Milky Way. She brought her cameras, but the wind at Whiskeytown Lake was too strong for the lightweight tripods. They would have blown over with cameras on them, so I just used the FZ35 on the heavy duty tripod, and the FZ8 on the large flexible tripod spread wide and placed on the Buick.

Milky Way faintly captured with Lumix FZ8

I was pleased to see that the FZ8 got images of the night sky. The wind shook the Buick causing the image to blur a bit during the 60 second exposures, but I was impressed that it did as well as it did.

Milky Way (left) and Brandy Creek marina (right) Lumix FZ35

The sky was filled with stars. The Milky Way rose from the southeast and crossed the heavens above Whiskeytown lake, passing overhead until it disappeared northwest behind the mountainside. It was a pleasure to see the star filled sky with relative clarity. Meteors occasionally streaked in the atmosphere above.

Light from Redding (left) and the Milky Way  Lumix FZ35

There was some haze in the air that reflected the lights of Redding and dimmed the intensity of the starlight, which affected the images, but I didn’t mind.  I hadn’t been away from town at night for awhile, and seeing the billions of stars was awe inspiring.

Cassiopeia in the Milky Way  Lumix FZ35

Using Sky Safari, Margaret was able to locate Cassiopeia. The queen was on her throne in the Milky Way. All went nicely and lessons were learned. New settings to try.  I shall wait for a calm, moonless night for the next series of Night Sky photos. (Maybe get the Milky Way reflected on the lake).

Busy butterflies behind B building

Today, I took some pictures around the Treehouse. Dorothy was out tending her garden and all was well in this little corner of the world. What a nice place to be.

John’s latest old looking new violin

I stopped by the violin shop today and John was working on a new musical figure and set of chords, I got my guitar and joined in. It seems like we have begun another enjoyable new song. It is good when this happens.

Today’s Video;

Cosmic Immersion