Moon and Jupiter are among the brightest objects we see in the night sky. The rising sun, with its brightness, washes them out. Just before sunrise on October 28, 2016, they appeared close together.
Moon and Jupiter Just Before Sunrise
The skies here in Albuquerque have been clear at sunrise recently, and I have missed the colors. Today, at first, though, I was a little disappointed to see the moon and stars somewhat obscured by light clouds. As the sun began to rise, however, I was delighted to see the reds, oranges, and blues develop above the silhouetted Sandia Mountains.
I have much clearer images of the alignment of Venus, Jupiter, and Mars from several months ago than of today’s phenomenon. But for sheer beauty, at least to my eye, I’ll take today’s pre-dawn Albuquerque sky.
Crepuscular rays of light, “fingers of God,” and other names are beautiful atmospheric optics. August 2016 has been remarkable for their appearance over the Sandia Mountains. I’ve been able to photograph this phenomenon at sunrise twice in less than a week. Of note, many images on the internet were taken at sunset rather than sunrise, and the rays will appear pointing down. (The rays are actually parallel, but that is another discussion.)
This was the first. It was the most dramatic example I have personally ever seen.
Crespuscular Rays 6:20:25 am
This is the second. This sunrise was more typical. The rays and sky were “gentle.”
Crepuscular Rays 6:25:48 am
Phenomena like this do not last long. Within two minutes, the rays were almost gone.
Crepuscular Rays 6:27:34 am
Note that the days are getting shorter. Compare the time of the first image to the time of the second image, just a few days later.
Photographers in Albuquerque know the skies during monsoon season may present even more wonderful opportunities than usual. Many of us remember the summer of 2009 as being full of marvelous skies. This year, friends are capturing amazing images of the lightning storms we have had recently. Sunrises, which I have enjoyed for many years, are proving to be even more remarkable to me this monsoon season of 2016.
Edited to add: Added bonus: a rainbow to the west a little later in the morning!
More Sky Show with Venus and Jupiter and Now Including the Moon
More sky show with the planets Venus and Jupiter today included a crescent moon at 6:09am MST. Dawns began with crystal clear skies over the Sandia Mountains. The bright object closest to the mountains is the moon; then Venus; then in the upper right hand corner, Jupiter.
More Sky Show: Moon, Venus, Jupiter over Sandia Mountains at Dawn
Check out Sky and Telescope for celestial events you might want to look for this week. I missed some in the past few days, partly because of cloudy skies and partly because I slept through them. 🙂
As long as I have lived in New Mexico and as old as I have grown to be, I never cease to be amazed at the constantly changing and ever-beautiful skies of my adopted state.
A Better View May Be Behind You. Be Sure to Look in All Directions
“A better view may be behind you” is taught in photography classes almost as much as what “aperture” means. Over the years I have definitely learned to look around. I may not always find “a better view,” but sometimes I will, and will often find something worth photographing in addition to the “main attraction,” whatever that is.
The first freeze of the season is predicted for Albuquerque tonight (November 5). Yesterday morning as the first of the storm appeared, we were treated to a glowing sunrise, stormy, with fog and clouds drifting in and out of the valleys on the mountains, separating them into layers.
Sunrise as a Storm Approaches, Fog and Clouds in the Valleys of the Mountains
When I glanced around, almost by accident and not really expecting much in the western sky, there was a rainbow! I’m not really suggesting that the rainbow could outdo the sunrise, but, as common as rainbows are here looking east toward the mountains in late afternoons, they are relatively uncommon in the morning. The rainbow was an unexpected surprise, and a reminder to always look around to see what is there!
Rainbow to the West at Sunrise
New Mexico skies – always beautiful, never boring, and no better view anywhere. 🙂
Morning sky: what a way to start the day here in New Mexico, “Land of Enchantment.” And, it seems never to be the same. Day in and day out, the morning sky is different from the day before.
The very colorful sky is short-lived. Today it was four minutes, and that is typical. Over the years I have learned many of the signs that signal the possibility of a spectacular sunrise or sunset, or rainbow, and, every now and then, other phenomena.
Skies like this do not happen without clouds. If I see clouds when I awaken, I’ll watch, with camera near, and start to photograph as soon as color appears. I’ll continue photographing until the color fades. I’ve watched the position of the morning sun change throughout the seasons. I understand the expression, “up before the birds.” (The birds do come to feed shortly thereafter, though.)
Just one more amazing morning sky in New Mexico. (The intense colors at present are probably contributed to by the smoke from fires in California.)
Dawn, 24 hours apart during this active monsoon season, looked very different. Each was beautiful, as New Mexico skies tend to be.
At 6:05 MDT on July 10, a light rain was still falling, after significant overnight rainfall. The overcast sky was like a giant umbrella casting back a beautiful orange pink glow, while individual clouds in the mountains provided separation and depth to the Sandias. Although colorful, it was a gentle sunrise.
Sunrise Over the Sandias
The following day, at 5:47 MDT, slightly less than 24 hours later, a very different dawn appeared. The sky was clear with only a few wispy clouds, and the moon seems to sparkle as the day dawned. It was just as beautiful in its own way as the sky had been the day before.
Sunrise the Following Day
Although different, each was typical of a sunrise in New Mexico, “Land of Enchantment” and remarkable light with amazing skies.
Winter sunrises in New Mexico are as variable as the winter weather. We do have winter here, and every few years Albuquerque will have a heavy snowfall, such as 22 inches in 2006, or extreme cold, such as -12°F one night in 2011 and temps not above 5°F for three days. But those are extremes.
This was sunrise on a winter day in Albuquerque. It was cold; gusty winds contributed to the wind chill; it snowed a bit; and there was a fair amount of sun! Tomorrow will be warmer and less windy!
Stormy winter sunrise over the Sandia Mountains, on a day that saw wind, snow, and a fair amount of sun.
This is about as bad as it gets in Albuquerque at this time of the year.
Many winter days, and winter sunrises, in contrast, are spectacular!
Soft and beautiful winter sunrise on a day which had virtually no winds and above average temperatures
This sunrise was less than a week ago, on a day that was unseasonably warm and beautiful.
I do not have to be reminded how fortunate I am to call this “Land of Enchantment” home. Last winter I felt sorry for various friends in the Northeast dealing with the Polar Vortex. This year it seems to be not only cold, but wave after wave after wave of deep and heavy snow – blizzards!! Facebook friends are comparing various snowblowers, or concern about husbands having heart attacks while shoveling snow, and a variety of such concerns. (I keep thinking I really ought to buy a new snow shovel; I still have the one I had in Kansas City, and that was 30 years ago!! 🙂 ))))))) )
With the publication of the ebook, BOSTON SOLSTICE BLUES, a collection of 51 daily poems written in another year, between December 5 and January 24, friend, fellow anthropologist, and writer Jim Stallings has reminded me again how glad I am to be here and not there! On his blog, Jim has described how these poems came to be written. Of note, Jim and his wife are now living in a much warmer place!
A final happy note, at least from my perspective: Daylight Savings Time is almost here!!!! Sunday, March 8, is the day we will “spring forward” at 2:00am. One of my favorite days of the year!
Skies in New Mexico. Sunrise, sunset. Yes, yes, I know I talk endlessly about the beautiful skies of New Mexico. But they are beautiful, and the variety is never-ending. Sometimes I get to show that to you.
Another sunrise that was more colorful toward the northeast than to the east itself.
The morning sunrise was another that was more colorful toward the northeast than east over the mountains. I have seen that a couple of times this month. I had rarely seen it (or perhaps, been aware of it) before this winter. It was calm on the ground, although there did seem to be some turbulence at cloud level.
Sunset was also calm on the ground. But, wow! was it ever an in-your-face kind of sunset. The clouds did not appear calm, at least to this observer. I cannot help calling this a “fire in the sky” sunset. The color like this lasted less than two minutes. I feel sorry for anyone here who missed it. You had to be looking for it or very lucky at just the right time.
“Fire in the Sky!” An in-your-face sunset that lasted for less than two minutes. It was spectacular.
Sunrise is a beautiful phenomenon in New Mexico (as I have said more than once 🙂 ), but the colorful part is not long-lived. If one is not up and looking for it, the color could easily be missed. This morning’s was actually colorful for longer than most, although the peak of the color did not last long. The first image is from 6:43 am. The second image is from 6:51 am. Although the last image is at the peak of color, the color was gone very shortly afterwards.
06:43 am06:51 am
When I first looked out, the sky was quite dark, but a few of the clouds on the horizon were beginning to show a trace of red. That is always a hopeful sign for a colorful beginning to the morning, and I brought my camera into the kitchen, and drank a cup of coffee while I waited and watched to see what transpired (these colors do not always happen 🙂 ). Finally I thought I should give it try. These images eight minutes apart show intense color in parts of the sky that lasted longer than I had expected.
Sunrise here in New Mexico holds the potential to always surprise. Today was no exception. The sunrise views usually seen from my home show the Sandias in the background, and a colorful sky. There was some of that this morning. But what made today a bit unusual was the colorful show to the North.
Sunrise through the trees, very colorful, but unusual because this is facing North rather than East.
The skies of New Mexico, “Land of Enchantment,” never disappoint, whether they are the cloudless turquoise skies of much of the year, or the brilliant colors of many of our sunrises and sunsets, or the impressive storm clouds of our monsoon season.
I never cease to be amazed, however, at how different our sky can be, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, season by season. I cannot remember seeing such a brilliantly colored sunrise to the North before.
