Eterno Dia PhotographyStaycation Alberta: Chasing Comets
Posted on July 28, 2020
Comet Neowise surprised astronomers when it was discovered in March of this year. It became popular with the space community and lay people when in July, the comet came close enough to earth the be viewed with the naked eye, or at least a set of binoculars.
Astotin Lake, Elk Island National Park
I had trouble, between Edmonton’s recently very stormy skies, and my myriad of day jobs, finding a chance to head out to hunt for Neowise. Finally, last weekend, I had the time and was blessed with clear skies, so my husband entertained my insanity and we headed 45 minutes east of town to Elk Island National Park, our closest dark sky preserve. We arrived at the park just before midnight as the moon was setting. Even though I was late in the game in terms of catching the comet in its easy viewing phase last week, there were still lots of other folks out in the park that night; stargazers with telescopes far more impressive than mine, astrophotographers, and families enjoying the pleasant July evening.
Watching the setting moon at Astotin Lake in Elk Island National Park.
I’m a photographer, but astrophotography is a whole entity of its own. I follow a lot of communities: The Alberta Aurora Chasers and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, just to name a few. The photos from their members are always stunning, but I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what they’re talking about when it comes to equipment and editing. In preparation for trying to capture Neowise on film, I just watched some YouTube videos about how to capture it on a DSLR. I set my camera to the suggested settings before we headed out so that I’d have an idea of where at least to begin so I’d have a chance.
A tiny red meteor streaking though the sky. Red means that the composition is nitrogen and oxygen.
Comet Neowise was no longer naked eye visible, so using all the internet’s suggestions of how to find it, we found a good viewing spot, and started searching with the binoculars. Eventually I found a “smudge”, and Shawn and I both agreed that that was most likely a less than impressive comet. I set up my camera, skeptical I’d even be able to computer it on film, since I couldn’t see it, but I was shocked when I looked at the camera’s screen to have a tiny green comet with a hazy tail appear.
My first glimpse of the Neowise, just below the Big Dipper.
A fellow stargazer looking through a telescope.
Comet Neowise just below the big dipper.
While we were out that night, as it grew darker (the sun never fully goes to bed this far north in the summer time), I set up my telescope and we gazed at golden Saturn, massive Jupiter and its four Galilean moons, and the tiny, red dot, Mars. I don’t have photos of those, as my telescope tech is outdated and doesn’t hook up to my camera. Due to the dark sky preserve, I was able to view the two larger planets as crisply as I’d ever seen them in my telescope, with Saturn experiencing its first summer in 30 years, and faint white and red lines just visible on Jupiter. We watched meteors streak through the sky every few minutes (the Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids peak July 28-29 and the Perseid meteor shower peaks August 11-13). Did you know you can tell what a meteor’s composition is based on it’s colours? I even got photos of the Milky Way; the edges of our own spiral galaxy. I just learned that between June and August, earth faces to the inside of the Milky Way galaxy, which provides better views from the denser centre.
Jupiter and Saturn with the Milky Way starting to appear on the right.
A yellow/greenish meteor in this photo of a star cluster in the milky way, possibly made of iron or magnesium.
Our very own galaxy, The Milky Way.
We left at 2:30 in the morning, a bit chilled, very tired, but really satisfied that we were able to see so much. Since we’re all stuck relatively close to home this summer, get out into a dark sky and check out the awesomeness of space. We really are a pale blue dot in a vast expanse. The magnitude is hard to comprehend but it sure is stunning.
Another meteor streaking through the sky above the Big Dipper and Neowise.
Did you get a chance to see Neowise? What other space events have you been able to witness or capture? Thanks for stopping by and feel free to comment or ask questions! Happy travels!
– Leslie
Photos © Eterno Dia Photography 2020. Please contact for reproduction.
From Sea to Stars: A Weekend In The City of Angels
Posted on May 10, 2020
Back in September, we spent a whirlwind three days in California. Shawn turned 40 and as part of his gift I got him tickets to a double bill concert of Ben Folds and Cake, two of his favorite artists, playing at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. I wanted him to have a very special memory of his 40th year, so I booked the Los Angeles part of be bands’ tour. We took a long weekend and flew down to Southern California, a favorite destination of mine, despite the smog, traffic and general discord happening in America at the time.
Our concert didn’t start until the evening on our first full day, so we had the morning and afternoon free. As a landlocked Canadian, my priority was to get to a beach and Santa Monica seemed like a good option, if a bit touristy. I’d never been there but of course I knew of the iconic pier and carnival located there. We headed out from Glendale with our rented Kia Soul and her trusty GPS with WiFi. With traffic, it took about an hour to drive and we found parking just off the pacific coast highway. The famous Santa Monica pier was fairly far off in the distance from our parking spot, but we found bathrooms and water stations right away, which was great. As we made our way to the pier, we admired the cute beach houses and pretty landscaping and watched the bikers and joggers passing us by. The pier was busy; we’d passed some kind of street festival up on Ocean Avenue on our way down to the beach, so lots of people were filtering down over the pedestrian bridge. The day was so smoggy that for a while it was hard to tell if it was just overcast, but the smog did keep the heat down a bit and there was a nice ocean breeze to keep us comfortable.
At the start of the pier, there’s a small aquarium that we didn’t go into just due to time constraints. It’s dedicated to education about the bay and how to conserve and protect it. I sort of wish I’d stopped in, as it was a very reasonable entrance fee as well, so if you have time, stop to check it out. We made our way along the pier, looking at potential spots for lunch, checked out the amusement park and some of the souvenir shops.
A smoggy morning at Santa Monica Pier
There were lots of musicians and painters busking along the pier and a number of people were fishing off the side. Below us, beach goers splashed in the waves. We found some historical markers, artifacts and information about the pier and Route 66, which I was unaware we were on, at the far end of the pier. We found a cute, three-story restaurant with a rooftop patio for lunch and people watched and just took in being by the ocean. After lunch, we headed over the pedestrian bridge up to Ocean Avenue to check out what the festival was and have a quick look around. We checked out some of the cool architecture along the ave and made our way back to the car once we’d had our fill.
With time on our side, I was itching to check out the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and Hollywood, where my husband had never been before. We headed from Santa Monica to Hollywood. We parked and just started walking Hollywood Blvd down the Walk of Fame. 
We passed all of the hundreds of tour operators, the Hollywood Church of Scientology, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, and we investigated the stars on the sidewalks. We kept our sightseeing efficient as we got to the TCL Chinese theatre to look at all the hand and footprints of celebrities. If we’d had more time, we could have entertained ourselves for the entire day. There are private tours, group tours and self directed tours, if you enjoy ogling celebrities homes. I’m not sure how many of the tour groups are legit though, and a lot of the information we saw advertised was for celebrities that were big 20 years ago – maybe more fun for mom and dad than the kids….
After a whirlwind tour of Hollywood, we saved enough time to make it to Griffith Observatory. I hadn’t really done any research on it- I only knew that it had great views, and a telescope, which unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to look through, as we had the concert to go to that evening. We drove back to LA and navigated our route to the observatory. Parking was a bit nightmarish; the only parking left was parallel parking up along the winding, desert hillsides headed up to the observatory. It is metered pay parking for $10/hr. We decided two hours was about all the time we had to look before heading back to Glendale to get ready for the concert.
We hurried hiked from the car up to the observatory. It looked a hundred miles away but was probably about a kilometre from where we parked, which I definitely felt, hiking uphill in the afternoon California heat. The smog from the morning was dissipating, so it was starting to get warm (keep your sunscreen handy and bring some bottled water).
We explored Griffith Observatory (admission is free!), which was quite remarkable with numerous space exhibits, huge planetary displays, and of course a theatre named in Leonard Nimoy’s honor. We could have spent hours learning about the Tesla Coil, tides, moon phases, seasons, spectroscopy and looking through the camera obscura that peers over the city, but we only had time for a brief walk through.
We headed outside to the garden and outdoor area to take in some stunning landscapes of the city before leaving to head to the concert. This is a place I could have spent a full day (and evening) at. There is so much to learn here; they have star parties, theatre presentations and educational events and the outdoor views are stunning. I can only imagine they’re also stunning at night. Griffith Observatory is a must see when in LA and I was sad to have not had enough time to take it all in.
The Greek Theatre. I’d seen it in movies and I knew it had been designed in the style of an ancient Greek theatre. This was one of the most magical nights. The sun began to set as we got to our seats but the air was still pleasant and warm. As it got darker and the opening band was playing, I was actually pretty overcome with how gorgeous the venue was; crickets were chirping, the forest and hills around us were lit beautifully. Off in the distance where the moon was rising, the city lights were twinkling in the dusk and planes were landing and taking off at the distant airport. The whole atmosphere was just beautiful and I had a few moments of being taken aback at how perfect everything was in that moment. The bands were phenomenal and only added to how great the experience was. At the end of the concert, we did have to walk a ways down from the venue to find a taxi (I know, I know, but we don’t UBER) to get back to our little motel in Glendale…
Ben Folds at The Greek Theatre
On our final morning, we went for breakfast at Foxy’s in Glendale, which had a lot of greasy breakfasts to choose from (so much cheese) but a super gorgeous little patio. After breakfast we walked across the street to find The Americana at Brand, a shopping complex we’d heard was nearby, but hadn’t seen yet. We walked down a little alleyway, and a bit like walking through Diagon Alley in Harry Potter, we emerged in a gorgeous shopping plaza with stunning garden areas, cobblestone streets and adorable boutique shops. Only a few coffee places were open this early, but there were gardeners and maintenance workers cleaning the streets, stringing up lights and busying themselves with tasks. It was so quiet, peaceful and fresh.
Breakfast at Foxy’s
We’d scheduled in just enough time to head to Playa del Rey on the way to the airport before flying home. We parked and found a little lagoon, and then made our way to the beach. While we were headed through the burning sand to get to the ocean, I head distinct “borking”. I looked towards a rough concrete pier in the water where the “bork” had come from and watched a sea lion dive under the water! I was thrilled, as was my husband. He’d read that sea lions could often be spotted here, which I didn’t know. He didn’t tell me in advance, as he was afraid I’d be disappointed if I didn’t see one, so he was happy that I’d been surprised by the treat of seeing a sea lion in the wild. We continued to hear them bark as we made our way to a cute cafe, Playa Provisions, for lunch. We had a nice, healthy meal here before finally having to make our way to the airport and head home.
Three days wasn’t nearly enough time to spend in Cali, but we certainly did make the most of our time. At the time, we couldn’t have foreseen the coming pandemic events and this was our last trip, at least internationally for the time being. Even though LA is crowded and has issues with homelessness, poverty and pollution, there’s just something about it that I love. We made great memories in the City of Angels for Shawn’s milestone birthday and California will always have my heart. TTFN. ‘Til we meet again.
– L
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