I will always love and appreciate the raw power of the Oregon Coast. This was taken down along the southern Oregon Coast last December during a incoming storm and high tides.
Tags: Oregon Oregon Coast Oregon Landscapes Storm Oregon Storms Darren White Pacific Northwest Pacific Ocean Pacific Northwest Landscapes
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Shown here is a side view of NGC 3568, a barred spiral galaxy roughly 57 million light-years away.
In 2014, the light from a supernova explosion in NGC 3568 reached Earth – a sudden flare of light indicating the death of a massive star. The supernova was discovered by amateur astronomers with the Backyard Observatory Supernova Search in New Zealand.
This NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observation comes from a wealth of data that paves the way for future science with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. One of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope key science goals is to explore the life cycle of stars. Since Webb observes at infrared wavelengths, it will be able to peer through the clouds of gas and dust in stellar nurseries and observe the fledgling stars within.
Read more: go.nasa.gov/3GRDuSW
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Sun
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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Tags: NGC 3568
Years ago, Kurt Lawson pointed out to me that one could hike up Sandy Peak and get an excellent view of Eureka Dunes in Death Valley National Park. A few months ago, I realized that the viewpoint can see all the way to Mt. Whitney, 50 miles away. I figured that last week's snow storms would clear the air and provide a nice snow covering of the mountains, so I did the hike.
Getting up Sandy Peak was rather tougher than anticipated (it always is, isn't it?). I arrived at sunset with the temperature in the 20s F (-4 C) and rapidly dropping. I found a snow-free and flat-ish spot, threw my sleeping bag out, and attempted to sleep under the stars. Unfortunately, my brand new Thermarest Xtherm (R=6.9!) developed a leak, and I had to reinflate it every two hours during the night or else I would end up on the dirt. In the morning, my thermometer showed 17 F. Argh.
Eureka Dunes are the tallest dunes in North America and reach 700 ft (200 m) tall. Homestake Dry Camp is barely visible on the bottom right. Behind the dunes is the Saline Range, behind those are the Inyo Mountains, and behind those are the Sierras. Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the continental US at 14,505 ft (4421 m) tall, is about halfway from the center to the right side of the frame.
Tags: death valley national park eureka dunes sand sandy peak inyo inyos sierra sierras mountain mountains range saline
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I'd have to admit that I've been after a shot like this for quite a few years now. I've taken a shot from here with a wet road in the Spring, but opportunities for shots like this are a bit more rare in the Fall. Typically, the falls in Yosemite can stay dry well into November and the autumn colors can disappear after you get past that first week so it's a rare year indeed when you can shoot any of the falls in the valley before the Fall colors disappear for the year. I thought I might have a shot last year as it was raining when I arrived during the first week of November, but then 4 or 5 inches of snow fell overnight and Autumn came to an abrupt end.
This year, I showed up on a Thursday with the promise of rain in the forecast, but the NWS choked pretty hard on the forecast which went from 50% of showers to zero by the time I arrived in Oakhurst. My buddy Greg Boratyn showed up on Friday and we spent most of the weekend shooting the Autumn colors throughout the park. It seemed we had missed peak color for most of the park, but there were still a few pockets of color around, especially on the western end of the valley.
By Saturday morning, Greg was done. I told him I wanted to stay another day and that I was planning on sleeping in my car somewhere nearby and he looked at me like I was crazy. I told him there was a 40% chance of showers that night and I was really hoping to shoot the fall colors after the rain knowing that the colors would pop and that the road would be wet. He pulled out his own app and promised me that there was ZERO chance of rain that night. I said goodbye and shot the rest of the afternoon and then headed back down toward Oakhurst to get some signal, some gas and some food.
The next morning, I woke up at 2 AM after a few hours of sleep to check the weather...and sure enough, the forecast had changed to zero chance of rain. I grimaced and went back to sleep. When I arrived in the park just before sunrise, it was completely clouded over and I set up down near Swinging Bridge. I had only been shooting for a short time when I began to notice that it was beginning to sprinkle. And then suddenly it was raining. Not a huge downpour, but just enough to rinse off the leaves and to get the road wet. :)
Zero percent chance.
I was off like a shot to this location and arrived well before the Sunday crowds began to jam the roads. Between the Dogwoods and Oaks, the Western end of the valley was in rare form.
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Tags: Yosemite Yosemite National Park Autumn Bridal Veil Fall
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Chasing a Clear Sky: This is going to be a series of a few posts in a row of the same location. This is the first in the series. I hope to give non-photographers a sense of the impact of perspective and also the movement of the Milky Way and all those stars! It’s all constantly moving! This is a small to moderate sized named arch. The arch is the opening on the right. From the front you just see the arch, but if you hike around to the back side of the arch there is a very large alcove and you can climb up to the arch inside. These photos were taken from inside the alcove. I’m guessing, but the arch might be 20 feet, 6m, high, and the alcove 80-100 feet, 25-30m, in size. My daytime scouting showed that the rising Milky Way (MW) would cross the middle of the alcove opening. Yeah! I position myself and camera to capture the rising MW in the opening. Unfortunately there were clouds in the way, and while I’m waiting for the clouds to clear, the Milky Way is moving up and out of the alcove opening. Booo! I’m losing my MW composition. In this first image you can see the MW moving up and out of the alcove opening. The MW moves up and to the right in the Northern Hemisphere. The following photos will show what comes next as I wait for the clouds to clear while trying to still keep the MW within the alcove opening. Stay tuned! The images get better! BTW, I took the photo with the person at the end. Stacked Panorama. 16mm, f/2.8, 15 sec., ISO 5000.
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