Pacific Northwest Night Skies

 

A recent vacation to Redwood National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park and Crater Lake National Park in California and Oregon produced the images seen in this post. The image above was captured during the peak Perseids meteor shower on Thursday, August 13, 2026. Image looks east from the Butte Lake Campground in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Time was 3:53 am PDT. A meteor streak is at left center. Toward the upper right, the fuzzy appearance of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) can be seen. 15 second exposure at f/1.8, ISO 2500, 35mm focal length. Despite the dark skies, it was not a particularly active meteor show from this location.

Milky Way and core, looking SSE from the South Summit Campground in Lassen Volcanic National Park at 10:17 pm on Friday, August 14. Bright star at upper left is the 0.75 magnitude Altair in the constellation Aquila. 15 second exposure at f/1.8, ISO 2000, 35mm focal length.

9:29 pm PDT, Saturday, August 15. Crater Lake (National Park), Oregon looking south from the Merriam Point Overlook. At this point I was in the process of setting up my Nikon Z6ii camera for Milky Way shots. Red glow at right is from family member's head lamps. Wizard Island can be seen at lower left.

9:49 pm. Looking the opposite direction from the lake (northwest) at Ursa Major (The Big Dipper). Clouds toward the bottom. The glow at bottom is from distant towns. 13 second exposure at f/4, ISO 5000, 24mm focal length.

10:03 pm. Milky Way and core vertical capture from Merriam Point, Crater Lake. Wizard Island behind dead pine tree. Windy and chilly conditions at this location! 20 second exposure at f/4, ISO 5000, 24mm focal length. Image is one of the 11 images used to create the panorama below.

Panoramic image of Crater Lake looking south from Merriam Point Overlook. Image is a stitch of 11 shots, all 20 second exposures at f/4, ISO 5000, 24mm focal length. Time was 10:00-10:05 pm. Mix of clouds and stars. Bright star at top center is 0.75 magnitude Altair in the constellation Aquila. Bright skies along the horizon is due to glow from distant towns. Glow at lower right is another camera on a tripod.