Early Night at AOMO Observatory

From the photographer: “After a long period of rain in Vancouver, 2010 Winter Olympic Games city, the sky became clear and we decided to initiate an astrophotography session next to AOMO observatory in U.B.C. Research Forest at 400 meters above the sea level. This educational observatory is operated by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Vancouver section members who want to take images of deep sky objects not very far from light polluted downtown Vancouver, but just 45 minutes of driving. Notable in the image, Mars shines in conjunction with Beehive Cluster above the dome; Winter Hexagon (right side) and Big Dipper (upper left) rise above the eastern horizon. The orange beam along the upper part of the photo is U.B.C. 6-meter Liquid Mirror Telescope’s – The largest liquid mirror telescope in the world – Laser beam operated a few hundred meters away from our observing site.”