gainesp2003's photostream  

These are caused by ice crystals in the clouds aligning and acting as prisms to the sunlight shinig through. Very pretty!

Comet Garradd is moving slowly through the constellation Hercules, and will speed up dramatically over the next month or two. It is at magnitude 7 now, but with brighten to magnitude 6 (just visible to the naked eye in dark skies) in February and March. There is just a hint of a tail extending to the upper left of the coma. Not sure if a second tail is visible or not pointing downwards just to the left of the bright star. Comets typically have two tails - an ion tail that points away from the sun and a dust tail left in it's path.

This is a stack of 15 exposures totalling 70 minutes of exposure time. Taken with a Canon 7D at ISO 1600 at 700mm and f/5.6 (Canon 500mm scope with 1.4X extender). The camera rode piggyback on the scope, which was used for guiding.

Chrissy - still smilin' on our second attempt at reaching MacNamara Hut. I managed to miss the turn out of the valley trail on day 1, necessitating a retreat back to civilization, and the purchase of a 10th mountain division hut guide book (and a few cold beers with dinner) Friday eve. Ooops- my bad!

MacNamara hut is one of the first two built in the 10th Mountain Division series between Aspen and Vail. It is a solid hike in from the main trailhead - about 5 miles and 2000 feet elevation gain. The huts were originally built to train the US Army 10th Mountain Division for snowy mountain terrain. Now they are managed as get aways for back-country skiers.

Clouds clear over the Elk Range in central Colorado. This is the view from the meadows below MacNamara Hut - one of the 10th Mountain Division huts between Aspen and Vail.