Milky Way and Airglow

 

A beautiful night scene over a small lake in northeast Minnesota.  The Milky Way shines brightly while some airglow adds a little mystique to the atmosphere. We had just finished watching for Perseid meteors from the middle of the lake when we noticed this cool view from the boat dock. It was an unforgettable parting shot to top off an incredible night of sky gazing. 

Sky Gazing and Perseid Hunting

 

Last night we got out for a little sky gazing hoping to see some Perseid meteors. We ventured out into the middle of one of the local lakes, dropped the anchor and started watching the sky. It only took a moment to see our first meteor. When we first got positioned on the lake the sky was free of clouds and the surface of the water was smooth as glass. A sky flooded with stars above us and the smooth surface of the lake reflecting those same stars below us made it feel like we were hovering in the middle of the Milky Way. 

After just a few minutes, however, some clouds started to move in and a light breeze kicked up. The breeze made the front of the boat drift back and forth. As we drifted my 20 second exposures turned the stars into streaks making it look like a star trail exposure which are typically 30 minutes or longer. It was cool to see the star trail effect in such a short exposure.  We spent about an hour out on the lake but the clouds were moving in more so we decided to call it a night. We saw at least 20 or more meteors in that hour. The whole experience was very surreal and one we will not soon forget. 

Summer Sunset, Minnesota Northwoods

 

This past Sunday was a rare day in the sense that we did NOT have any smoke haze from wildfires clouding our skies. The visibility was great all day and it was nice to not be smelling and tasting smoke throughout the day. It seems like virtually every day this July has seen smoke haze and air quality warnings. We decided to take advantage of the clear views and headed to a local overlook to watch the sun go down. I'm glad we went out as we witnessed a beautiful sunset.  The conditions that day were short-lived as the next morning through today the smoke has returned and is thicker than ever. 

July Milky Way over Grand Portage Bay

 

Boy, it sure is nice to finally see crisp, clear stars again!  The smoke haze from Ontario wildfires wasn't nearly as bad today as it has been on other days.  I had been over at my parents house and when I got home I looked up at the sky as I was getting out of the car.  It had been so long since we had good air quality at night I was shocked to see the outline of the Milky Way glowing brightly in the sky!  I couldn't resist walking down to the beach and making this photo. 

An evening on the lake

 

There has been a LOT of smoke in our air this July. Wildfires in the Boundary Waters and Canada have been sending smoke our way pretty much every day this month. On some days the smoke has been thick enough to give us headaches and sore throats by the end of the day. It also means we have not been seeing very many stars at night. 

About a week ago my dad and I ventured out on a local lake after dark and when we arrived at the lake you really couldn't see any stars at all due to the smoke haze. A little while later, however, the smoke did clear enough to reveal some clouds and a few stars poking through here and there. The night was incredibly quiet and calm.  So much so that I was able to set my tripod up in the boat and get a nice and sharp 5 second exposure of the moon and Jupiter!

Meditative Otter

 

An otter deep in thought as he basks in the evening sun on the Pigeon River in northeast Minnesota. 

Surprise Otters!

While out cruising the shoreline of the Pigeon River last night we had a surprise encounter with a group of otters.  We first spotted them near the mouth of the river as we were heading upstream. As we motored upriver the otters were working their way upstream as well, along the bank of the river. Every now and then they would climb up on shore and wander their way through the trees. At first it only seemed like there were a couple of them.  However, as we got closer we realized there were 6 or 7 of them!

That's when things got interesting. I don't know what happened but one of them got on the nerves of another one and before we knew it all of them came running quickly down the bank and into the river. Once they were in the water they were snarling at each other and splashing around violently. This lasted for about a minute then they broke apart and swam back towards the mouth of the river.  There was one straggler, who seemed to look at us as if thinking "What the heck just happened?"  During the melee I was shooting a video which didn't turn out all that great buy my consolation prize for the subpar video was this otter posing very nicely for his photograph to be taken :-)