Sunsets and Satellites

A Beauty-and-the-Beast ending to this day.

Four 30-second exposures of the ISS.

TWO WEEKS REMAIN until the summer solstice, the virtual halfway point of 2020, a rough year here on Earth. On America’s plot of the planet, COVID-19’s impact has been intensified as a nation struggles with an issue that has plagued us since our founding. Images of unity (protest marches) mix with those of division (brutality, destruction, and political bombast).

I turned my eyes and my camera to the evening skies this week, finding solace (or maybe escape) in sunsets and satellites. The International Space Station made loops over Texas for several days, coinciding with a full moon, the so-called Strawberry Moon. 

I’ll keep looking up, waiting for things to look up.

Two views of the Strawberry Moon on two consecutive nights.

Starry Surprise

This 20-second exposure (2.8/14mm lens at 5000 ISO) features the Milky Way, the Constellation Orion, and the ISS.

CAMPOUTS DON’T DISAPPOINT. The mid-January weekend at Meridian State Park with some work chums was no exception. A shrimp boil was the highlight of the campfire menu, and the 3-plus-mile hike put my recently repaired arteries to the test.

One clear, cold night, I pointed the Canon at the sky, hoping the Milky Way would pop out of the starry new-moon canvas. Despite the perfect, dark conditions, the galaxy pattern was less defined than usual. I was lucky, however, to capture the International Space Station streaking across the sky in three consecutive 20-second exposures. (I confirmed it later with an ISS tracker.) When it proved too cold to sleep well, I rose early and watched the sun rise over Lake Meridian. 

Campouts don’t disappoint.