Night Timelapses

A night under the dark skies near Moab Utah where I participated in a National Parks at Night workshop.

A night under the Alien Throne in Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Research Area in New Mexico. Look for the lighting as the moon sets, the drifting stars and clouds, the Milky Way, the motion of the stars around Polaris, and see if you can spot the Andromeda Galaxy! (1:50, center right in the sky). Read the backstory at https://thorolson.com/valley-of-dreams-part-2-a-night-under-the-alien-throne/

Here is what we experienced in a morning at Chateau Lake Louise. The official sunrise was for 5:30am, and I thought the mountain peaks woud see it before that, but there was another mountain range to the east, blocking the sun. It eventually cast its light on us. Here is a 30 second rendition.

Night skies over the geologic feature known to the Navaho as "The Rock with Wings". A thank-you to Marc Faulkner for providing the ending shot taken at sunrise.

Night skies over the geologic feature known to the Navaho as "The Rock with Wings". A thank-you to Marc Faulkner for providing the ending shot taken at sunrise.

The skies above Gangler's Lodge, 11-15 September 2022

Taken from Fort Davis TX. Clouds interfere, but are gone during totality when the background stars can be seen, apparently drifting by, but it is the moon that is moving past them as it passes through the shadow of the Earth.

Northern lights over two days at the beginning of Alaskan Spring.

A time lapse of clear skies over calm waters in the Superior National Forest. Some features to look for: the Big Dipper reflected in the lake, the Milky Way followed by bright Jupiter, moonshine on the fall colors, a brief moment of northern lights, and fog swirling around islands in the lake.

A night of magic under the stars. Watch the lengthening shadow of the sailing stone as the moon sets. Two trains of Starlink satellites make a streak of light immediately before the moon sinks below the mountain and covers the playa in darkness. During the night, the stars continue their circumnavigation of Polaris.

The harvest moon rises over the new bridge on the St Croix river.

The majesty of the Milky Way is revealed. After sunset the moon illuminates the landscape. Watch for the setting moon shadow of the mountain racing across the playa. The Milky Way makes its graceful transit overhead until dawn’s twilight. Read the full account at: https://thorolson.com/2021/06/22/a-night-on-the-playa-part-2/

The majesty of the Milky Way is revealed. After sunset the moon illuminates the landscape. Watch for the setting moon shadow of the mountain racing across the playa. The Milky Way makes its graceful transit overhead until dawn’s twilight. Read the full account at: https://thorolson.com/2021/06/22/a-night-on-the-playa-part-2/

The night sky on the autumnal equinox in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Watch as sunset fades through astronomical twilight, the Big Dipper rotates around Polaris and Northern Lights fire up briefly as the Milky Way comes into view.

An overnight timelapse in a sunflower field accompanied by a full moon. Watch for the light of sunset on the clouds, of moonrise striking the flowers, the Big Dipper, Jupiter and Saturn. The moon enters the scene for a while, and finally sunrise as seen by the golden heads of sunflowers.

Eclipse timelapse from EOS60Da

Timelapse of the "super blood moon" lunar eclipse of September 28 2015. Two views are presented, which did you see that night?
Approximately 1500 exposures at 10-second intervals, processed with the help of LRTimelapse, Adobe Camera Raw, and Matlab.

An attempt to portray the experience under the northern lights. These are sequences of still shots, exposed for four to eight seconds each, then cross-dissolved to display the slowly shifting patterns. And it actually does look like this! (Except the camera sees more color than we do with our night vision). Something that is NOT represented are the quick moving pulses and waves that sometime appear. They are blurred in the time exposures.

My first attempt to do night sky timelapse. The camera is on a fixed tripod carefully positioned so that Polaris is directly above the monument. About halfway through this 30-second sequence the moon rises, illuminating the sky, clouds, and the ancient column.