With everything set up and the right lighting conditions, you’re ready to take your astroshot. Your iPhone should automatically switch to Night mode when it detects low light. Tap the RAW icon on the top right to switch to the correct format. Lock the focus on infinity, preferably a star.
By default, iOS auto-selects the capture time. When handheld, it’s limited to one second. However, with the release of the 14, the iPhone can detect when it’s motionless on a tripod and extend the exposure time to 10 to 30 seconds (via Apple).
You can tap the caret icon on top of the camera app to adjust the exposure settings. Slide the capture time to the max. Press the shutter button remotely with your Apple Watch or Airpods (via Apple). Wait for the timer to finish the count (it’ll be displayed in the top-left corner).
If you’re using a third-party camera app, note that it’s limited to 1-second exposures which generate a stack of images exposed for a second. It cannot actually take longer exposures. So, all things considered, the default iOS camera should deliver the best results (via MacRumors). You can further enhance them with editing. Import the shots into your computer or edit them on your phone using the Adobe Lightroom app. The Apple ProRAW format allows you to reduce grain and blur without algorithm magic organically (via Apple).
At the start of 2023 Earth will be visited by a newly discovered comet that may just be bright enough to be spotted with the naked eye.
The comet, named C/2022 E3 (ZTF), is currently passing through the inner solar system. It will make its closest approach to the sun, or perihelion, on Jan. 12, and will then whip past Earth making its closest passage of our planet, its perigee, between Feb. 1 and Feb. 2.
If the comet continues to brighten as it currently is, it could be visible in dark skies with the naked eye. This is difficult to predict for comets, but even if C/2022 E3 (ZTF) does fade it should still be visible with binoculars or a telescope for a number of days around its close approach.
Related: The 12 best night sky events to see in 2023
Planets, winter stars and a comet in January 2023 NASA skywatching guide
UP NEXT
According to NASA, observers in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to find the comet in the morning sky, as it moves in the direction of the northwest during January. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) will become visible for observers in the Southern Hemisphere in early February 2023.
Observers should look for C/2022 E3 (ZTF) when the moon is dim in the sky, with the new moon on Jan. 21 offering such an opportunity, weather permitting. According to the website Starlust, the comet will be in the Camelopardalis constellation during its close approach.
If you’re hoping to observe C/2022 E3 (ZTF), our guides for the best telescopes and best binoculars are a great place to start. If you’re looking to snap photos of the night sky, check out our guide on how to photograph the moon, as well our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.
According to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the comet has a period of around 50,000 years. This means that prior to it coming to within around 100 million miles (160 million kilometers) of the sun on Jan. 12 and 26 million miles (42 million kilometers) of Earth on Feb. 2, the last time it came so close was during the Upper Paleolithic period on Earth.
That means the last humans that could have spotted C/2022 E3 (ZTF) were early homo sapiens alive during the last glacial period or “ice age.” So, too, could some say of the last Neanderthals, as that species became extinct around 10,000 years after the last perihelion of C/2022 E3 (ZTF).
Of course, the Neanderthals and early humans wouldn’t have known what C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was, and the comet was identified much more recently than the last ice age. The comet was spotted by the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility in early March 2022.
Initially appearing to be an asteroid, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) which was inside the orbit of Jupiter at the time, soon began to brighten as comets do. At the time of its discovery, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) had a magnitude of 17.3, brightening to a magnitude 10 in November, and expected to eventually reach magnitude 6.
Current images of C/2022 E3 (ZTF) show its coma, a surrounding halo of gas and dust, glowing with a greenish hue and a long but faint cometary tail extending from its main body.
Editor’s Note:If you snap the comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), and would like to share it with Space.com’s readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to [email protected].
If you’re looking for an awesome gift that’s free this year, just look to the night sky where the Christmas moon lines up with four bright planets in a celestial holiday treat this week.
This Christmas (Dec. 25), the young crescent moon will shine with Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Venus and will appear to glide past Saturn and Jupiter over the next few days. All five objects will appear in a diagonal line from the south to southwest.
Related: Christmas night sky 2022: The planets pay a holiday visit
If your sky is clear, all you have to do is look to the southwest to see the moon, Jupiter and Saturn, which are some of the brightest objects in the night sky. If you have a clear horizon without trees or buildings, you can also see Mercury and Venus at sunset, according to a NASA guide.
“From the 25th to the 31st, look to the southwest following sunset to see an increasingly full Moon slip past Saturn and then again past Jupiter,” NASA wrote in a guide (opens in new tab). “Viewers with a clear view to the horizon will be able to search for Venus and Mercury in the fading glow of sunset, just a few degrees above the skyline.”
If you’re hoping to observe the moon and planets, our guides for the best telescopes and best binoculars have gear tips to help you get started. If you’re looking to photograph the night sky, check out our guide on how to photograph the moon, as well our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography. Read on to see how to see the moon and planets from Dec. 25 to Dec. 29 below.
Dec. 25: Christmas moon and 4 planets
This NASA sky map shows the locations of the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and Mars after sunset on Dec. 25, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The Christmas night sky show begins about 45 minutes after sunset in the southwestern sky as the moon and planets align in a diagonal pattern from south to southwest.
The two-day-old moon (the new moon was on Dec. 23) will shine as a slim crescent about 20 degrees above the horizon. Your closed fist held out at arm’s length covers about 10 degrees of the night sky.
Saturn will shine above and just to the left of the moon about 30 degrees above the horizon. Jupiter, the largest of our solar system planets, will shine higher up in the night sky (just over 50 degrees above the horizon) and farther left of the moon.
This NASA sky map shows the location of the moon as it visits Saturn and Jupiter on Christmas, Dec. 25, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Venus and Mercury are extra treats in the Christmas night sky, but may be harder to spot because they are so low in the sky, both of them less than 10 degrees above the southwest horizon.
The NASA sky map above shows how the two planets will appear with respect to the crescent moon, with Venus (the brightest planet in the night sky) shining just below and to the right of Mercury.
Dec. 26: Moon close to Saturn
The moon will shine near Saturn in an evening conjunction on Dec. 26, 2022 as seen in this NASA map. Jupiter, Mercury and Venus are visible too in the southwestern sky. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Christmas may be over by Monday (Dec. 26), but the night sky will keep on giving.
Saturn and the moon will appear extra close to each other in what astronomers call a conjunction. It is the last time this year the two planets will appear so close.
The moon and Saturn can be found about 29 degrees above the southwestern horizon on Monday night, as both objects shine bright in the Capricornus constellation. While they will appear close in binoculars and to the unaided eye, they won’t be close enough to see together in a telescope.
Dec. 27: Moon between Jupiter and Saturn
This NASA sky map shows the location of the moon as it moves toward Jupiter on Dec. 27, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
By Tuesday night (Dec. 27), the moon will have moved on from Saturn, but rejoins its place in the diagonal alignment with the other planets.
About 45 minutes after sunset, the crescent moon will be higher in the night sky and shine between Jupiter and Saturn, with Jupiter on top. As in earlier days this week, Mercury and Venus are visible low on the horizon.
In fact, if your visibility allows you to see all the planets, you’ll see Jupiter, the moon, Saturn, Mercury and Venus line up again in a diagonal line in the sky running from down from Jupiter high in the southern sky to Venus low in the southwest.
Unlike on Christmas, when the moon was below Saturn and above Mercury, on Dec. 27 it will be above Saturn and below Jupiter.
Dec. 28: Moon below Jupiter
This NASA sky map shows the location of the moon below Jupiter on Dec. 28, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The moon and planet alignment continues on Wednesday (Dec. 28), with the moon shining a bit higher in the night sky.
About 45 minutes after sunset, the crescent moon will shine just below Jupiter and still be in its diagonal alignment with Saturn, Mercury and Venus. The bright stars Fomalhaut and Altair, which are visible all week, can also be seen to either side of the diagonal planet alignment.
Dec. 29: Moon above Jupiter
This NASA sky map shows the location of the moon above Jupiter on Dec. 29, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
By Thursday (Dec. 29), the moon will move beyond Jupiter, taking its place at the top of the diagonal alignment that has dominated the southwestern night sky this week.
The phase of the moon will no longer be a crescent, with the moon reaching its quarter phase (or half moon) on Dec. 29.
At the bottom of the planet tableau, you’ll see a change in order a Mercury is no longer just above Venus. During the course of this week, Mercury has shifted ever lower and on Dec. 29 it will shine just to the right of Venus, with both extremely low on the southwest horizon.
And that’s a look at the moon’s trip through the aligned planets of Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury and Venus this week.
Over the next few days the planets, the moon will still shine bright above the four planets as we move into a new year of skywatching.
Editor’s Note:If you snap a photograph of the moon and planets, and would like to share it with Space.com’s readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to [email protected].
After days of clouds in Rome, the skies finally cleared for a “planet parade.”
Virtual Telescope Project founder Gianluca Masi was at the ready with telescopes, cameras and broadcasting equipment to observe the five naked-eye planets on Wednesday evening (Dec. 28). The most-easily seen planets were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. He also spotted Uranus and Neptune, which require equipment to view.
“A very beautiful Christmas present from the sky,” Masi wrote of the celestial sight. “I managed to capture some great images and share the view with the world.”
If you’re looking for binoculars or a telescope to see the solar system planets, our guides for the best binoculars and the best telescopes have options that can help. If you need photography gear, consider our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography to prepare for the next planet sight.
Masi caught the five planets in a single view using a panoramic “fish-eye” lens, which gives a 180-degree field of view of the sky. He also set up several zoom lenses on a telescope mounted on the roof of his house in Rome.
Fleeting Mercury was the greatest challenge as it is fast fading from view in a bright twilight sky, but Masi managed to just capture it in the fish-eye lens. Zooming was easier, he said, “as I could select the best camera/lens settings for each planet.”
Masi captured Venus and Mercury together, “showing in such a colorful sky just above the S-W (southwest) horizon.” Then he proceeded through the sky, capturing each of the planets in turn and even imaging the remaining two only visible in telescope or high-powered binoculars: Uranus and Neptune. You can see the entire “parade” in the gallery above.
“I’m already looking forward to the next cosmic show to bring to our community,” Masi said; his next broadcast will be previewing the Quadrantid meteor shower that peaks on Jan. 4, unfortunately during a very bright and nearly full moon. But if you miss it, there will be other meteor showers in 2023 sure to produce amazing shooting stars.
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book about space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
The first meteor shower of 2023, the Quadrantids, is coming up — and it may be one of the most spectacular showers of the year.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is active from Dec. 26 to Jan. 16 but will peak on Jan. 2 and 3. At the peak, viewers can expect an average of 80 meteors per hour streaking through Earth’s atmosphere, according to NASA. — although the shower could produce up to 200 per hour. Most notably, the Quadrantids are known for producing dramatic fireball meteors, which are longer and brighter than typical meteors because they originate from bigger pieces of debris.
The Quadrantids are the debris trail of an asteroid called 2003 EH1, which was discovered in the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) in 2003. The asteroid is about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) across and may be the remnants of an extinct comet, according to a 2004 study published in The Astronomical Journal.
Our sister site Space.com has a full guide on how to see the Quadrantid meteor shower. If you’re hoping to snap a photo of the Quadrantids, don’t miss our guides on how to photograph a meteor shower, as well as the best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.
Related: The best meteor showers of 2023
Planets, winter stars and a comet in January 2023 NASA skywatching guide
UP NEXT
Asteroid 2003 EH1 orbits the sun every 5.52 years, according to NASA. Earth passes through its debris trail at a perpendicular angle, meaning the peak period for showers of dust and tiny rock fragments is brief.
To best view this short-but-spectacular show, find a place away from light pollution on the night of Jan. 2 or predawn hours of Jan. 3 and lie flat to see as much of the sky as possible. (Bring a sleeping bag or warm blankets to stave off the cold.) According to NASA, the best viewing angle is to lie with your feet to the northeast. Let your eyes adjust for 30 minutes to catch even the faintest meteors.
The shower can be viewed from any latitude north of 51 degrees south, according to NASA, but the best viewing will be in the Northern Hemisphere. The meteors will appear all over the sky but seem to originate from between the constellations of Bootes and Draco, not far from the handle of the Big Dipper.
The shower gets its name from a constellation called Quadrans Muralis, which was named by French astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1795 but is not recognized on the list of modern constellations kept by the International Astronomical Union. (If you want to try to find Quadrans Muralis while your eyes are adjusting, look at the space between Bootes, Draco and the handle of the Big Dipper. It’s a triangular shape that is supposed to resemble a quadrant, a navigational tool used to measure angles.)
The next major meteor shower after the Quadrantids will be the Lyrids, which are active from April 15 to April 29 in 2023, peaking on April 22 and April 23.
Astrophotography is getting so popular and yet its practitioners are so often badly informed about the unique and beautiful events happening in the night skies above. So get your calendar out, grab one of the best cameras for astrophotography and/or one of the best astrophotography telescopes and start taking long exposures and technical close-up shots of deep-sky objects at night.
Here’s what to point your camera at in the next 12 months:
1. Northern Lights on the increase
Since the Sun is waxing towards its once-in-11-years ‘solar maximum’ in 2024 or 2025 it’s theoretically true that the Northern Lights will in 2023 be more frequent and stronger than they have been since the mid-2010s. That doesn’t mean there’s a 100% chance of seeing them – clouds can thwart you at any time – but a trip to the Arctic Circle between 64º and 70º North latitudes in places like Iceland, northern Norway, Sweden and Finland will maximize your chances.
Read: Where, when and how to shoot the Northern lights
2. Venus and Jupiter in conjunction: 1 March 2023
When two objects in the night sky appear very close together it’s called a conjunction by astronomers. When it’s Venus and Jupiter – the brightest planets of all as seen from Earth – it’s an astrophotographer’s dream. This conjunction will be particularly impressive because the two worlds will appear just 0.3º apart. That’s close enough to see them in the same field of view of a small telescope. It’s a convenient event, too, appearing at its best in the southwestern sky just after sunset. The nights on either side will also see the two planets nicely positioned very close to each other.
Read: The best camera for astrophotography in 2022: tools and lenses to shoot night skies
3. Milky Way Season: April-September
As camera sensors have improved in recent years the internet has become saturated by Milky Way images. They’re beginning to lose their uniqueness, but if you do fancy capturing the arc of our galaxy then get yourself somewhere dark between April (for early morning views) and September (for post-sunset views) and line it up with an interesting foreground subject.
Read: How to shoot nightscapes: camera gear and exposure settings
4. A rare hybrid solar eclipse: 20 April 2023
Everyone knows that it’s a total solar eclipse that’s one of nature’s great experiences, so why travel to Western Australia, Timor Leste or remote West Papua to see a hybrid solar eclipse? Especially one that lasts only a minute! Occurring only seven times this century, a hybrid eclipse occurs because the Moon is just the right distance from Earth in its elliptical orbit to cause a total solar eclipse only from the middle section of a path across Earth’s surface. From all viewing zones aside from remote areas of the ocean, a brief totality will result, with the shortness made up for by an extra-special display of beads of light around the Moon both before and after. Exmouth Peninsula in Western Australia is where to head for the best chance of clear skies – and a dramatic 62-second eclipse.
5. Venus, Mars and the Moon: 23 May and 21 June 2023
Triangles appeal to the human brain. When the Moon passes close to two planets and appears to form a triangle, in reality, nothing is happening of any significance. But it looks great! There are two chances in 2023 to catch the sight of the Moon passing Mars and Venus, with the events on 23 Ma and 21 June occurring in the west just after sunset.
Read: When to photograph the moon
6. Mars in the Beehive Cluster: 2 June 2023
Nestled in the simple Y-shaped constellation of a Cancer is M44, also called Praesepe or the Beehive Cluster. An area busy with blue stars, it’s a zodiacal constellation so one that both the Sun and planets pass through. This year it’s the once-every-two-years apparent visit of Mars, which will be waning from its super-bright opposition in December 2022. You’ll need a long lens for this, but taking the shot is mostly about timing. It will be above the western horizon after sunset on 2 June 2023. Venus will appear to be close by.
Read: Best smart telescope in 2023
7. Perseid meteor shower: 12-13 August 2023
Everyone’s favorite annual meteor shower has been a victim of lunar light pollution in recent years. Thankfully that’s not the case in 2023. With a waning crescent Moon just 8%-lit and not rising until an hour before dawn, the night sky will be dark as Earth busts through the debris stream left in the inner solar system. Get yourself under dark, rural skies and set your camera to take aseries of 30-second shots, being sure to also take some time to gaze at the night sky. The next morning you can flick through your captures and see if you caught one – and then use your data to also create a wonderful multi-hour star trail.
Read: How to photograph a shooting star
8. Giant planets at opposition: 27 August and 3 November 2023
Ever captured the ringed planet up close? Although it’s not a particularly bright planet, the fifth planet from the Sun has such a magnificent ring pattern that it demands a close-up attempt when it’s at its biggest, brightest and best in 2023 on 27 August. Try the stacking method, which entails taking lots of images and stacking them together to maximize both contrast and clear atmospheric condition – ditto for fellow giant planet Jupiter, which reaches its annual opposition on 3 November.
Read: How to try deep-space astrophotography
9. A big, bright ‘Blue Supermoon’ rising: 31 August 2022
Technically speaking there are four so-called supermoons in 2023. On 3 July, 1 August, 31 August and 29 September. However, it’s on 31 August that our natural satellite in space will be at its absolute biggest, brightest and best during its full Moon phase. It will appear to look its biggest as it rises in the east as the Sun sets in the west. As with all rising full Moons, it will look a deep orange as it appears, changing to a bright yellow and then white as it climbs higher in the sky. It will be called a ‘Blue Moon’ simply because it will be August 2023’s second full Moon. Since the Moon takes 29 days to orbit Earth, that’s bound to happen now and again.
Read: How to photograph the full moon
10. A ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse in the Americas: 14 October 2023
An annular solar eclipse – a ring of light around the Moon – occurs when the Moon is relatively far from Earth in its elliptical orbit, so can’t cover the whole of the Sun as seen from Earth’s surface. It’s only an interesting shot in close-up and your timing has to be perfect, but this October there’s a great opportunity to capture this relatively rare event when a vast swathe of the American West (and many U.S. National Parks) experiences up to five minutes of annularity.
Key sites to experience the light drop in light and a ‘ring of fire’ include iconic locations including Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park and Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park – both Dark Sky Parks ideal for wide-angle nightscape photography in the nights surrounding the eclipse. The rest of North America will experience a big partial solar eclipse.
Read: 10 nightscape photography hacks: boost your set-up with these simple tips
Read more:
• Astrophotography: How-to guides, tips and videos
• Astrophotography tools: the best camera, lenses and gear • The best lenses for astrophotography
• The best star tracker camera mounts
• Best equatorial mounts
• Best deep-space telescopes
• The best light pollution filters • The best CCD cameras for astrophotography
Venus Optics has released a new ultra-wide angle lens, the Laowa 6mm f/2 Zero-D MFT, for cameras with Micro Four Thirds format sensors.
The new Laowa 6mm f/2 Zero-D MFTlens shown on a Panasonic Lumix M4/3 camera. (Source: Venus Optics.)
Developed as a ‘photo’ version of the company’s previously released 6mm T2.1 Cine lens, the new 6mm f/2 Zero-D MFT lens comes with electrical contacts that allow users to control the aperture through the camera body and record EXIF metadata in image files. Weighing only 188 grams, this lens can capture an angle of view of 121.9 degrees with close-to-zero distortion, making it ideal for landscape, astrophotography, architectural or drone shots. The optical design of this lens contains 13 elements in nine groups and includes two aspherical elements for controlling distortion. Its fast f/2 maximum aperture provides flexibility for shooting in dim lighting and controlling depth of field.
The minimum focus of 9 cm allows photographers to shoot close-ups with visual impact, while the five aperture blades can produce 10-pointed sunstars when the aperture is stopped down. A focus magnifier is provided to enable fine tuning of focus when rotating the focus ring. This lens accepts 58 mm diameter screw-in filters. It is currently available to purchase via Venus Optics official website (http://www.venuslens.net/) and authorised dealers for an MSRP of US$499. Click here to visit the product page.
The vividness and clarity of January’s night skies are enough to make a skywatcher forget the cold long enough to take exploratory plunges into reinvigorating celestial sights.
Daniel Zantzinger (Skywatcher’s Guide)
When you’re outside around 8 p.m. on any clear night, it’s practically impossible to miss the three star belt of Constellation Orion, the enormous hunter, looming in the southern sky. The constellation reaches its highest point for the year (culminates) when its center strikes the north/south meridian at 9 p.m. Jan. 25, putting it in the year’s best viewing position for everything from a naked eye to high-powered astrophotography telescopes.
The eight bright stars that define the asterism are mostly young, blue or blue-white supergiants either flying solo or as multiple star systems ranging from 244 to 2,000 light years distant. The chief exception is the goliath’s northern shoulder star Betelgeuse, an immense and pulsating red supergiant. Betelgeuse, an asymmetric runaway star nearly a billion miles wide, is so large that if it were in the sun’s place, its variable “edge” would reach farther than the orbit of Jupiter.
Look beneath the three belt stars — from the east Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka — to locate Orion’s sword. Its central “star” is magnitude +4.0 Orion Nebula, a reflection/emission region of massive star formation. With averted gaze, skywatchers should be able to see the ghostly green tint of the nebula even in some light-affected backyards. Use a 5-inch or larger telescope to observe the six stars of the Trapezium Cluster, an exquisite glittering cluster of new stars about 15-30 times the mass of the sun.
In total, there are 81 stars of Constellation Orion. Orion is just one of many dazzlers in this vast swath of sky, with 2023 starting its first week with something of a sensation. Mars, brilliant at magnitude −1.07, lingers less than 10 degrees from red giant Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus, all month. Mars is rapidly retreating since its Dec. 7 opposition, standing tonight at about 58.8 million miles (94.6 million km) away, ending January at 81.4 million miles (131 million km). By Independence Day, the god of war will be low in the west and greatly diminished, setting early at magnitude +1.75 and 207.3 million miles (333.4 million km) distant.
Enjoy its high mid-evening transits while you can. Aldebaran is along the line of sight to the Hyades, an open cluster whose brightest stars form the V-shaped face of the bull of Zeus. To its west is the Pleiades, an open star cluster of 14 naked eye blue giants, which contrasts markedly with the ruddy hue of the god of war. Though outshined by neighboring Seven Sisters, the Hyades is actually nearer at 153 light years. Use binoculars.
The Red Planet pairs twice with the moon this month. The two orbs come within 2½ degrees of one another Tuesday [Jan. 3]. Around 10 p.m. Jan. 30, the moon barely misses occulting (covering) Mars by a mere fraction of a degree. Their closeness will be remarkable nonetheless. Skywatchers in southern Colorado and points south have a better chance of catching the occultation.
Another intimate pairing, a planetary conjunction in fact, occurs with Venus and Saturn each night about half an hour after sunset Jan. 22-24. The closest conjunction for the year sees Venus, 76 times brighter, come within ½ degree of Saturn. The difference in brilliance is such that observing Saturn, awash in Venusian splendor, may require binoculars.
There’s no particular celestial, meteorological or mythological reason that the New Year begins Jan. 1. It’s coincidental that the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius the scorcher, strikes the meridian at exactly midnight New Year’s Day. That Jan. 1 is the first day of the year is the result of Gaius Julius Caesar’s reforms of the Roman calendar. The Roman calendar was based on the lunar cycle having 304 days of 38 market cycles, leaving 50 days as unorganized wintertime. After consulting with mathematicians and astronomers, Caesar’s edict involved the addition days and shuffling the months. He pronounced that Janus, the god of beginnings, ends and transitions (as well as wars and peace, doors and passageways) would be the patron of the first month of the year.
Janus, strictly a Roman god, is depicted as having two faces, one facing backward, the other forward. The first modern New Year’s celebration was Jan. 1, 45 B.C.E. The Julian calendar did much to address many of the intercalary artifices — manipulations — necessary to correct for the errors inherent in the Roman calendar. However, it calculated that the length of one year was 365.25 days, incorrect by about 11 minutes, an error that led to calendrical “drift.” The Julian calendar was tweaked by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, leaving the Gregorian calendar that most countries use today in their civil purposes.
The moon is full at 4:07 p.m. Jan. 6 and is called the Full Wolf Moon.
On a brisk fall evening in rural Boone County, John Essex walks up a hill inside a small church cemetery. With a backpack and camping chair, he weaves through dilapidated grave markers to a round patch of grass where he places his belongings.
As the sun sets, hidden just behind a barn off to the west, the sky fills with the warmest of colors. Though, the painting-like sunset barely catches Essex’s attention as he unpacks his things.
From atop the hill, he can see for miles. Winding country roads sit nestled between freshly harvested cornfields. There’s far less light pollution and a big open sky ready to show off its stars. It’s quiet and it’s dark, and for this hobbyist astrophotographer it’s exactly what he needs.
In the past from his backyard, Essex simply enjoyed star gazing with his flea market telescope, sometimes attempting to use his mobile phone to snap a picture of his find.
With typical rigs being expensive and cumbersome, astrophotography has had its issues. But Essex says with the help of a new tool, that’s not the case anymore.
On the crowdfunding site Kickstarter in October 2020, Essex backed French-owned company Vaonis which calls its Vespera device “the perfect combination of telescope and camera.” The camera arrived at Essex’s doorstep earlier in 2022, at the price tag of $1500.
“I liked the idea you can get galaxies, and nebula, and the moon,” Essex said. “And I thought this would be great to do with Jack, my son.”
Through GPS, the new camera auto-tracks to find various far-off photogenic galaxies lightyears away. Slowly the camera turns as it scans the sky. This is when Essex says you can explore the universe.
“I was so blown away,” he said of his first photo. “It was just mindblowing.”
Because of the distance and lack of light, photos can take hours to expose. Essex says he fills the time listening to podcasts.
“I listen to pop culture stuff about movies, comics and TV shows,” he said with a laugh. “It’s just nice to hear people talking, you know, being out here.”
To Essex, the 19 different cosmic objects he’s been able to photograph are “magical” but he says Jack’s renewed interest in space and science has been the most stellar.
Contact IndyStar photojournalist Mykal McEldowney at 317-790-6991 or [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram or Twitter.
A compact, lightweight telephoto zoom was still conspicuously absent from Nikon’s Z system collection but Tamron stepped in to fill the gap with its 70-300mm F/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD (Model A047). A relatively affordable lens with a classic zoom range, it was a rejigged version of a lens that was originally launched in Sony E-mount guise.
See other installments in our 12 lenses of Christmas series
Another telephoto conversion job saw the launch of the Tamron 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD (Model A057X), again being the repurposing of a Sony E-mount lens but this time for Fujifilm X system cameras. As such, it gives a monster effective zoom range of 225-750mm. It became Tamron’s third in a growing collection of X-mount lenses.
On the wide-angle front, a full-frame compatible Nikon Z system lens designed by Tamron launched as the Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8, this one being tweaked and rebadged as an own-brand Nikkor lens. Like the sibling ‘Nikon’ 28-75mm zoom, it offers a compact and lightweight alternative ‘trinity’ zoom with a slightly different zoom range than usual but still with a fast and constant f/2.8 aperture.
Tamron also announced a brand new 20-40mm f/2.8 Di III VXD zoom lens for Sony E-mount cameras, shoehorning wide viewing angles into a really compact and lightweight design, again with a fast and constant f/2.8 aperture rating.
Nikon certainly hasn’t been slack in announcing new lenses of its own design and released an updated roadmap in September, adding four additional lenses that took the total count up to nearly 40. New lenses included full-frame compatible 35mm and 135mm primes, along with a 70-180mm zoom, and in the DX camp, a new Z DX 12-28mm PZ, ideal for wide-angle videography.
Meanwhile, at The Photography Show, we got our hands on the mighty Canon RF 600mm F4L IS USM, an absolute dream of a super-telephoto prime for action, sports and wildlife photography, with a typically nightmarish price tag of around $13,000.
There was plenty of Fujifilm news in September, kicking off with the announcement that the Fujinon XF56mm F1.2 R WR was to get a makeover. Building on the success of the original lens, which excelled for portraiture, the revamped version was promised to have greater resolving power, a closer minimum focus distance and the addition of weather-seals. The improved resolution comes in the wake of the 40.2MP Fujifilm X-H2 and, with that camera in mind, Fujifilm also listed 20 lenses from the Fujinon line-up that can make the most of all those megapixels.
For Fujifilm shooters that love the retro look typical of X system cameras, you can max out on nostalgia with the Minox Color-Minotar 35mm f/2.8, as featured in the Minox 35 GT camera and now adapted for the Fujifilm X system.
Sticking with Fujifilm but taking a step up to medium format, the Fujinon GF20-35mm F4 R WR launched as the widest lens for the GFX system, going noticeably wider than the GF23mm F4 R LM WR prime lens. Further GFX news included the announcement of two tilt & shift lenses, namely the Fujinon GF30mm f/5.6 T/S and GF100mm f/5.6 T/S Macro.
New offerings from companies with a rich, long and highly renowned heritage in photography included the Leitz range of Hugo cine lenses, the initial set comprising seven full-frame lenses ranging from 21-90mm in focal length, all with a T1.5 aperture rating and recreating the look of Leica M glass. Hasselblad released three sumptuous new primes for its medium format X System, namely the Hasselblad XCD 2,5/38V, XCD 2,5/55V and XCD 2,5/90V. In full-frame terms, they equate to 30mm, 43mm and 71mm lenses.
In other news, Samyang served up five new ‘V-AF’ autofocus prime lenses for Sony full-frame E-mount cameras, primarily aimed at videographers. And Panasonic announced its LUMIX S 18mm F1.8 (S-S18) prime for its full-frame range of L-mount mirrorless cameras. In the APS-C camp, Tokina announced its atx-m 11-18mm f/2.8 as the company’s first ever E-mount zoom lens.
NiSi, better known for its photographic filters, announced a new APS-C format 9mm f/2.8 ultra-wide-angle prime for Sony E and Fujifilm X system cameras. Leica reimagined its legendary Summilux 35mm f/1.4 ASPH lens and Laowa announced a new 58mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO lens for mirrorless cameras.
September’s review schedule kicked off with the wonderfully versatile, compact and lightweight Canon RF 14-35mm F4L IS USM. An instant classic for full-frame EOS R system cameras, we gave this lens a perfect 5-star rating. We weren’t quite so overwhelmed by the new Canon RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM and Canon RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM but were still impressed by the dinky little delights.
For Sony APS-C format mirrorless cameras, we reviewed the Tokina atx-m 11-18mm F2.8 E, loving the compact, lightweight design, constant f/2.8 aperture and overall performance. We also tested the retro-tastic Leica 50mm APO Summicron-M f/2 ASPH, a classic lens with a typically ‘legendary’ price tag.
