Colourful Olives and Stars

From the photographer: “November is the time when winter constellations can be seen in the second half of the night, which is generally the coldest part of the 24 hours. Although the real winter is still a month away, it surely feels like winter when the bright winter stars are in the sky. November is also the time of the year when olives are mature enough for picking, to be consumed as table olives or processed for olive oil production.

Here, a nearby branch of olive is sharply focused, while everything further away is blurred. Having the night sky out of focus has one interesting effect. The blurred light from the distant stars are smeared into remarkably colourful disks. Surface temperature determines the colour of a star. Most of the out-of-focus bright stars of Orion show a predominately bluish hue, having surface temperatures much higher than the Sun’s. Whereas, giant star Betelgeuse in Orion and also Aldebaran in Taurus look noticeably redder, both being cooler than the Sun. Also in view are two main sequence stars shining with a very faint hint of colour: Sirius and Procyon. One last blur with an odd pinkish color can be seen in Orion. This is none other than Great Orion Nebula, which is preferably enjoyed with a sharply focused and magnified view.”

Click the second photo to see both the olive grove and the night sky in sharp focus.