The Stars of Auriga: M36, M37, M38. Back to Basics.I've been gone a long time. It's been eighteen months since I did any real imaging. The four images on AB posted last Spring were from data collected in December-January 2022-2023, eighteen months ago. It was at that time that it became clear that She no longer had the energy to complete Her project, and so I stopped work on the project and on all things related to AP.
What project? Let's go back ten years. She took a trip to Tana Tuva with a group of students. It was her first visit to a place that had truly dark skies...and it shook Her to Her core. It was not a positive experience. She was upset and became anxious. For Her gazing upwards, the cosmos was too vast and random. It was a reminder of just how insignificant we are, how transitory and ephemeral our lives. It frightened Her. Thereafter, She could not look up at night after that for the fear it engendered.
For me, however, looking upward I have always felt a longing for my home and a knowing of my place and a clarity about what is truly important. I feel beauty and in touch with an eternal wonder beyond my ability to fully comprehend, much less express...and I know no fear and am at peace.
In the last few years She would start to come out at night while I set up. At first She would never stay out long because right above Her was that fearful reminder. Still, over the months, Her time outside grew longer and longer. One night near Her birthday in 2021 She came out and asked me to explain the night sky, to teach Her what I knew and to explain how and why I felt the way I did.
And so, the "project" was born. The descriptions in my images (which many of you have read and liked) became texts for her to read in conjunction with our nighttime talks while I set up my imaging sessions. One day in the Fall of 2022, She said She wanted to read and record my descriptions as something of a legacy. We ran out of time. The cancer had spread and other matters took precedence. She died in July (2023).
And now, like some modern-day Rip Van Winkle, I have awakened grief-stricken into a strange terrestrial world where nothing makes sense except the celestial sphere above. With much of my AP knowledge from the Old Days seemingly forgotten, my equipment dusty, unused or misplaced, I start anew from my own beginnings, with a camera and tripod. Just me and the stars.
Those that know me will tell you that I always say it's about those stars. So, in this renaissance image there are three large open clusters (M36, 37 and 38) seated in the firmament. In this context even these huge and wondrous structures are insignificant. A genuine reminder of the sense-of-scale we are dealing with. In the end, it's just the stars and nothing more.
The image will win no awards, no doubt. No flash, no bling, no glitter. Just the straightforward truth-of-the-matter. For this image I used my trusty Canon with its 100mm lens set at f/6.3 and ISO800. There is no go-to mount, so you have to know just where to point to shoot. Is it just me, or has this become a lost art?
I was always lucky with my Star Adventurer. I could, if the night was still and the conditions perfect, manage two minutes unguided, as is the case here. No, it's nowhere near perfect. The image is under sampled and the tracking is off (should have done 1min). Yet, I am not displeased. Take a look at the enlarged view for a better look at the stars--especially those beautiful clusters! Avoid the full resolution view unless you want to see the tracking issues!
Thank you for taking a look and choosing to read.
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