Late Show at the Pictures

 

A recent family vacation that included a four day, 46-mile backpacking trek in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan provided the following images of sunsets and a post-sunset capture of three planets. All of these images were shot from the shore of Lake Superior at the Twelvemile Beach Campground on Sunday, May 31, 2026. Because of this area's high latitude (46° 38' 20") and time of year, sunset did not occur until around 9:30 pm. The above image was captured at 9:16 pm EDT. It is a 1/200 second exposure at f/13, ISO 100, 24mm focal length.

9:28 pm. 1/100 exposure at f/9, ISO 125, 24mm focal length. There was no wind, meaning the lake had a smooth, glassy appearance.

9:42 pm. This image features sunbeams emanating from behind the dark horizon cloud and a distant flock of geese flying through the scene. 1/60 second exposure at f/9, ISO 125, 24mm focal length.

10:30 pm. Three planets are visible in the waning sunlight. In descending order from upper left are: Jupiter (magnitude -1.88), Venus (magnitude -3.86) and Mercury (magnitude -0.53). Mercury is faintly seen above the dark cloud. At upper right is the -0.54 magnitude star Capella in the constellation Auriga. 1/25 second exposure at f/1.8, ISO 500, 35mm focal length. Nikon Z6ii camera.