man last walked on the Moon in Taurus-Littrow valley. Here’s tonight’s waxing gibbous Moon, three days from full, with the Apollo 17 landing site indicated by the orange x where astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt (a geologist) performed three days of exploration in 1972.
Taurus–Littrow valley is located on the southeastern edge of Mare Serenitatis, the landing site of Apollo 17, indicated by the tiny orange x.
in the 21st century with a historic launch and capture of the largest object ever put into space early this morning. It’s unfortunate that this incredible accomplishment isn’t receiving more news coverage.
I’m not so sure that Elon Musk isn’t an alien.
Images below are screenshots from the live stream provided by SpaceX.
One minute before launch the Super Heavy Booster and Starship are fully fueled with liquid oxygen and liquid methane.
Liftoff as 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy Booster generate twice the thrust of the Saturn V, capable of placing 150 tons into Earth orbit.
Super Heavy Booster hovering at the launch tower after return from flight. Entirely unprecedented. Wow!
The captured Super Heavy Booster hanging from the “chopsticks” post flight as the vehicle undergoes depressurization.
Glowing plasma during controlled re-entry of Starship during peak heating prior to a successful soft landing on target in the Indian Ocean. Hi-res images provided by Starlink.
Video: Drone’s-eye-view of the liftoff.
Video: The tower catching the returning Booster!
Video: The landing burn and soft touchdown of Starship.
It’s pretty clear that NASA needs SpaceX more than SpaceX needs NASA. Per aspera ad astra.
after the summer’s absence via the San Rafael Swell. There’s no place like home.
Milky Way galaxy erupting a fountain of stars and nebulae, geyser-like from the rim of the Little Grand Canyon of the San Rafael River.
Sunrise from the Wedge Overlook, northern San Rafael Swell. Click on image to enlarginate.
The magnificent Buckhorn Wash pictograph panel. Click on image to embiggen.
The remote San Rafael River “Swinging Bridge” built 1935-1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
southwest of Spokane, Washington, the Columbia Plateau State Park Trail extends for 130 miles (209 km) across the semi-arid Channeled Scablands. Some portion of this trail system is part of my daily ride, usually a section between Spokane and Amber Lake, at its very northeastern end.
Open ponderosa pine forests and seasonal wetland ponds dominate the flat-lying terrain that traverses the 1908 path of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railroad.
A typical crowded day on the trail.
Red, white and blue fireworks above Rapid City, South Dakota on the 4th of July 2018.
is the chief celebrity of Fruita, Colorado, having lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off in 1945. There’s even a local festival held in May every year to acknowledge Mike’s tenacity! Learn about Mike.
It’s easy to find Mike’s statue in charming downtown Fruita on Google Maps.
used in the Pacific in 1958 during Project Hardtack to monitor the radiation in the upper atmosphere during the nuclear tests. Here’s my scale model lifting off from the Ken’s Lake Missile Test Range early this morning.
The snazzy Doorknob roaring off the launch rail under thrust from a “F” engine, achieving an 893 foot apogee during its minute-long flight.
exists out in the open for all to see about one mile below Dewey Bridge on the opposite side of the Colorado River. Countless motorists on Utah 128 pass by a sturdy wooden ladder tucked against the escarpment, built circa 1940 in order to survey the site of a proposed dam in the canyon. Here’s an excellent article on the relict by our local writer.
The view across the Colorado River where the ladder is somewhat difficult to see against the sandstone cliffs, especially if watching the road and travelling at high speed.
as captured from Castle Valley, Utah. Peak eclipse occurs here at 12:32 pm MDT and the Sun’s orb will only be 58% obscured by the Moon.
Pre-eclipse Sun with several sunspots snapped at around 8:00 am MDT.
The big bite at the peak of the event for observers in southeast Utah. The Moon swallowed the sunspots.
The skies remained clear and an ice halo developed, and it got significantly chillier during the peak eclipse, seen here in a wide view.
The next total solar eclipse to transit North America will track through central Utah on 12 August 2045. Stay tuned.
of the largest rocket ever launched, brought to humanity by SpaceX early this morning from south Texas. (Images below from the SpaceX webcast on X.)
Propellant loading underway of the Super Heavy Booster and Starship 25 with super-chilled liquid oxygen and liquid methane.
Successful liftoff! All 33 Raptor engines ignited with the capability of lifting 150 tons into Earth orbit.
Excellent slow-motion high resolution video of the launch: NASASpaceflight.
as captured from Muley Point, Utah during the morning of 14 October. One can clearly see the advantage of being on the centerline for these rare and amazing events.
Multiple exposures of the eclipse event from sunrise to early afternoon on Saturday. Exposures were combined using StarStaX software, and even though several shots are missing from the sequence, I’m very pleased with the results.
The annular solar eclipse as captured by my filtered 400 mm telephoto lens, compiled in a composite shot with Adobe PhotoShop.
UPDATE: Both weekly newspapers in Moab are running these images. A photographic double-header!
ranks among my top five in Utah, and I visited it the second time this year as I dash into the San Rafael Swell for another night of astrophotography.
will traverse the southwestern United States in about two months time. I’m getting prepared for this rare and interesting astronomical event, the center line for which is a short distance south of Moab, Utah. I’ll be camping there with all my telescopic and photographic gear.
More information here: Eclipse America 2023.
Terrific zoomable map: Interactive Google Map showing center line.
IMPORTANT: All observers regardless of location will require appropriate eye protection to view this event!
was in use by the operators of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Company in the early 1900s to guard against rockfalls spilling onto the tracks and causing an accident. A series of electrified wires were strung along the more unstable sections of the rock cuts in the columnar basalts that are prone to toppling. Should the circuit be cut it would potentially indicate that a rock had severed the wire. Some relics of this system remain along the paved trail in the form of standing poles, some with insulators. The line was abandoned by the railroad in 1987 and eventually incorporated into the Columbia Plateau State Park Trail.
Location of a recent rockfall onto the paved trail. The vertical spacing of the insulators suggests a series of parallel wires, strung pole to pole, along the length of a cut.
in the style of small town USA with a parade of fire equipment in Castle Valley, Utah.
The annual parade is led by fire chief Ron Drake.
An opportunity to cool off on a hot day!
Long time resident and historical oracle Dave Vaughn.
was settled circa 1920 by John and Ann Pace.
holds some of the best kept secret places in central Utah. Here are some images that were captured during a several day trip with friends this week.
Portion of the extraordinary Buckhorn Wash pictograph panel.
Stormy sunset view of the Little Grand Canyon of the San Rafael River from The Wedge Overlook.
The stunning petroglyphs of the Rochester Panel in the western part of the Swell.
The historic San Rafael “swinging bridge,” built during 1935-1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Temple Mountain, an important site for uranium mining during the last century.
Little Wild Horse Canyon.
contains a wonderful petroglyph panel, hidden right at the edge of Moab.
Rory and Ellen examining the so-called “Connection Panel” where all key icons are connected by a continuous thread.
Increased contrast in order to see detail on the panel.
The view south across Mill Creek, towards the La Sal Mountains, from the panel’s location.
that collected a specimen on the 1859 exploration of the San Juan River drainage, this lovely early bloomer bears the name of Dr. John S. Newberry, the expedition’s doctor and naturalist.
Newberry’s twinpod (Physaria newberryi).
just a short distance from Newspaper Rock and it contains hundreds upon hundreds of petroglyphs distributed along the base of a varnished cliff for about a quarter mile (~400 meters). All of the glyphs here are heavily varnished, suggesting that they are older than most of the figures carved at Newspaper Rock.
A determined explorer can find this magnificent place quite easily, so I’ll leave it to you.