A Gander at Uranus

It was cloudy for last night's triple conjunction of the moon with Venus and Mars, so I was hoping with the descending cold it would be clear tonight for a two separate conjunctions, the moon with Uranus and Venus with Mars.  I drove out onto Grand Lake and parked my car.  I got out and assembled my gear and noticed I was not alone.  There was another astrophotographer on the ice.  I am not the only crazy individual out in the 4 F cold tonight staring at the stars.

Also, my first time photographing Uranus and the Milky Way.  I need to get a wider view lens!

Moon with Uranus; Venus with Mars

Closer view of the foursome

 Venus and Mars

Cresent moon with Earthshine and Neptune

Jupiter with the four "Galilean" moons - Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto

Milky Way

Moon in the afternoon, Moon at night

Moon rising in the afternoon

 Lunar corona as clouds pass in front

Lake Superior Sunrise

From Park Point Trail

Sunrise with sea smoke and glitter path.

Atmospheric effects distorting the sun's appearance. 

Lake of Fire!

Sunrise with sea smoke and glitter trail

Waning moon setting. Nice shadows in the craters on the bottom edge.

Aurora borealis

Recent solar activity lit up the skies tonight.  Faintly visible with the bright moon surrounded by a colorful corona.  Long exposures brought out the color in the northern lights.  Caribou Lake made for a nice mirror.  I had to fight with condensation on my lens as the temp dropped to 39F and humid air came off the lake.  I got to see a really great shooting star...unfortunately not captured with the camera.  I also had the pleasure of listening to 4 or 5 Barred owls calling back and forth.

Big Dipper over the aurora reflected in Caribou Lake 

Some red rays shining through

A colorful corona around the bright moon.