Dawn Planets…Wow!
 
Oh Wow...what a magnificent sight it was before dawn this morning, with all the planets lined up on the ecliptic. You can clearly see little Mercury low on the horizon; I had to twist the camera and myself around to go high up the sky at the zenith near the palm trees to capture Saturn but Yay! I got it :-D
 
Those stunning colours are from the fine volcanic aerosols high up in our atmosphere from the Hunga-Tonga eruption that happened last January…. the first image was taken an hour before sunrise at 5.35am and the second image at 5.50am, 45 minutes before sunrise, this is when the colours are at there most vibrant.
 
My first image was taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tokina 11-16mm lens @15mm; the exposure was 10 seconds and ISO400. The second image was taken with a Tokina 10-17mm fisheye lens @10mm with an exposure of 8 seconds and ISO200.

~ I used a fisheye lens so I could capture all the planets right up to the zenith on the ecliptic  ~

I woke up very early this morning and jumped straight out of bed, looked out my bedroom window and saw Venus shining brilliantly in the predawn sky. It was embedded in that volcanic dawn sky with all those incredible colours…. I was so excited :-D
 
At 5.30am here in Australia it’s still quite dark as it’s winter time, but all around and up the eastern horizon in a high broad halo you could see that gorgeous deep orange glow from these volcanic particles that are high up in our atmosphere…. it was just stunning! I also took one image of Venus reflecting on the water and a bit lower down in the picture you can just make out the elusive planet Mercury.
 
My images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens set on 18mm with ISO 200 and numerous exposures times.
 
*** Tara Williams from NSW *** In answer to your question from yesterday on Spaceweather.com: I did notice that this coloured twilight glow is extending right around the horizon, but it’s ever so faint in the western sky…now that’s very interesting!
 
Thank you for asking that question, as I would never have thought about looking in the opposite direction. I’m also capturing ripples in my images even through the sky is perfectly clear, another interesting observation!!!
 
Maybe we can blame this very unusual cold weather on these volcanic particles too ; -)

The video below was taken with my Canon 70D camera at 6.16am just 20 minutes before sunrise. The golden colours were magnificent just like liquid gold; you can still make out bright Venus in the eastern sky.
~ It was breathtakingly beautiful ~

Wow! The sky last night was just spectacular with the whole western and north-western sky aglow with a halo of bright orange light. Everyone out walking was looking up at the sky and taking pictures…the colour was even more vivid than the last images that I’ve been posting here over the last couple of days :-)
 
This volcanic dust is from the Hunga-Tonga volcanic eruption that happened back in January and it seems to have settled up high in our atmosphere here in the Southern Hemisphere…. I’ve noticed that the particles must be very fine as the stars shine through the material, unlike when there’s a bush fire and the sky is very opaque. 
 
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/sun/nasa-mission-finds-tonga-volcanic-eruption-effects-reached-space
 
 My images were taken at 6.pm an hour after sunset with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens set at 18mm. The first image is an exposure of 4 seconds and ISO 200; second image is an exposure of 6 seconds and ISO 200.  

We had another beautiful clear evening here last night to capture those glorious colours in the western sky that are produced by the volcanic aerosols high up the atmosphere from the Hunga-Tonga eruption. These images were taken an hour after sunset at 6.00pm and you can see that arc of material clearly across and up the western sky.
 
The first image is looking directly west and you can see Canis Major with the bright star Sirius and the fainter constellation of Canis Minor with Procyon.
 
The second image is panning around to the northern sky to capture the waxing crescent Moon that’s also in the halo of the volcanic dust with Canis Minor and the constellation Gemini.
 
The orientation of the constellations must look strange to everyone who lives in the Northern Hemisphere, as we see them here in the Southern Hemisphere upside down, we truly do live in the land down under ;-)
 
Images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 18-400mm set at 18mm on a camera tripod with ISO 200 and 6-second exposure (1st Image) and 3.2-second exposure (2nd images).

This was the breathtaking view after sunset this evening, with the sky ablaze with the most brilliant orange colours caused by those aerosols high up in our atmosphere from the volcanic Hunga-Tonga eruption.
 
(Observation) I've noticed that these volcanic particles are so fine that you can view the stars, planets and Moon quite clearly through the material, unlike when terrestrial dust or bushfire particles are scattered in the air that blocks out the starlight.
 
The most vibrant colours are always seen about 45 minutes after the Sun has set and can be anywhere from bright orange to glorious pinks and purples…. tonight we were treated with fiery orange :-o
 
My image was taken at 6.00pm (AEST) with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens set at 18mm, the exposure was 3.2 seconds and ISO400…It looks like Tara Williams in NSW has also seen and photographed this beautiful coloured sky tonight and yes Tara… they were indeed insane!  :-D

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~ Observing these volcanic aerosols from the Hunga-Tonga eruption ~
 
Peter Lowenstein from Mutare, Zimbabwe, Tara Williams from NSW, Australia and myself are continuing to post our observation on Spaceweather.com of this phenomenon that’s occurring in our Southern Hemisphere skies.
https://www.spaceweather.com

We are hoping that these observations and images may help any scientific community that may be monitoring these volcanic aerosols…. please contact me on my contact page if you are interested in our observations and I will pass on your details to the other observers, Noeleen 
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This is the first clear sunset sky that I’ve seen in over three weeks and what a lovely surprise to see such stunning colours from those volcanic aerosols that are still in the atmosphere from the Hunga-Tonga volcanic eruption.  You can see the full constellation of Orion within these coloured particles.

I’ve also notice that Tara Williams in NSW and Peter Lowenstein from Zimbabwe have also posted their observations of these volcanic aerosols on Spaceweather.com over the last couple of days…Hello to the both of you :-)
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My Images were taken at my dark sky site at Leyburn where I have my Stardust Observatory with a Canon 70D camera and an 18-400mm lens, with a 4 second and 6 second exposure and ISO200.

A short video with my Canon 70D camera of the volcanic coloured sky taken an hour after the sun had set.

NASA News 10th May 2022
 
When the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai volcano erupted on Jan. 15, 2022, it sent atmospheric shock waves, sonic booms, and tsunami waves around the world. Now, scientists are finding the volcano’s effects also reached space.
 
Analyzing data from NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission and ESA’s (the European Space Agency) Swarm satellites, scientists found that in the hours after the eruption, hurricane-speed winds and unusual electric currents formed in the ionosphere – Earth’s electrified upper atmospheric layer at the edge of space.
 
To read more of this amazing story and see the video’s please go to the NASA link at:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/sun/nasa-mission-finds-tonga-volcanic-eruption-effects-reached-space
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The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption on Jan. 15, 2022, caused many effects, some illustrated here, that were felt around the world and even into space. Some of those effects, like extreme winds and unusual electric currents were picked up by NASA’s ICON mission and ESA’s (the European Space Agency) Swarm.
Image not to scale.
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Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith

It’s just after sunset on Monday the 2nd May 2022 and I can already see that the western sky has a lot of those volcanic aerosols on the horizon from the Hung-Tonga eruption. It always starts off like a white halo and then that soft yellow colour in the shape of an arch is seen across and up the horizon.

 It’s quite amazing how many different colours are displayed as the suns light is refracted off the sunlit volcanic particles. I began my first image at 5.43pm and ended with Orion going down into a fiery red coloured horizon at 6.44 pm. I’ve made a slideshow for you to enjoy :-)

Over the past couple of months the colours have been anywhere from stunning purple and pinks to these lovely golden and red colours here tonight.
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My images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and a 28-400mm lens on a camera tripod.

​I’m out at our dark sky site at Leyburn where my Stardust Observatory is located and while checking to see if the sky was clearing, I looked back toward our caravan and saw the whole constellation of Orion setting in the western sky…the car and caravan looked perfect to take a photo :-)
 
The purple hue in the background sky is from the volcanic aerosols still lingering in the atmosphere from the Hung Tonga volcanic eruption from last January.
 
I could see there were some rolling dark clouds coming in from the east so I quickly took some wide field pictures around the sky with just my camera on a tripod. It’s quite amazing how much detail you can get with just a 20 second exposure in a really dark sky with no tracking!
 
Image was taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens, with an exposure of 20 seconds and ISO2500.

~ The planets Jupiter, Venus, Mars & Saturn in volcanic dawn sky 20th April 2022 ~
 
I only took these images a few hours ago and what an incredible dawn sky awaited me when I looked out my bedroom window at 5am…I could not get outside quite enough to capture the magnificent celestial spectacle before my eyes!   The planets Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn were all displayed on the ecliptic in an incredible magenta coloured sky…
 
Because of the fine volcanic particles in our atmosphere here in the Southern Hemisphere from the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption we are experiencing some of the most stunning colours in our dawn and twilight skies…please enjoy my pictures :-)
 
My mages were taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens at 18mm at between 5.15 and 5.55am 20th April 2022…Oh what a wonderful sight!
  * All my images are the real colours seen in the sky, with only minute processing  *