As I posted previously, there are enormous numbers of butterflies around the area, mostly where there is Chuckwalla Delight in flower. I have been searching for a new species for me, but mostly the same ones, especially Sonoran Metalmarks. There are literally thousands of them. I have been doing some astrophotography too. It has warmed up here quite bit, record high temps again, but that is only about 90 degrees so it is tolerable.
I’ll start out with a Ceraunus Blue. I don’t think I saw any of these last year when it was so dry. Fatal Metalmark, another species I have not seen for a long time. Yet another Great Purple Hairstreak, this one with a curled proboscis, on Chuckwalla Delight. A Leda Ministreak that landed dangerously close to an assassin bug. The assassin bug made an attempt to grab it, but the butterfly got away. Lucky for the butterfly but not so lucky for the bug or the photographer. A typical sight wherever there is Chuckwalla Delight in flower. This is the Little Sombrero Galaxy, NGC 7814, in Pegasus. It is very similar to the Sombrero Galaxy but is much further away and therefore appears smaller. The small galaxy in the middle right is IC 5381, a spiral galaxy that is about 508 million light years distant from the Milky Way and has a diameter of about 195,000 light years. There are other smaller, faint galaxies that are also visible, some of which may be a billion lights years away. The largest star in the upper left is HIP199, a 7.2 magnitude star that would be barely visible with binoculars.M74, the Phantom Galaxy, located in the constellation Pisces. I have done this one before but the results are better now with guiding. It is named the Phantom Galaxy because it is very faint and hard to see in a telescope. About 32 million light years distant.
2 replies on “Too Many Butterflies”
Beautiful butterflies, lucky you to see so many. That assassin bug almost got a meal.
I like the Phantom Galaxy, the spiral galaxies are so pretty.
Here, the hooded mergansers are back and we’ve been seeing great horned owls even in the daytime. Also a Bonaparte’s gull on LaFramboise causeway.
I like the spiral galaxies too. Galaxy season is coming soon, I can hardly wait. I’ve been working on another nebula for now. Had some Barn Owls yesterday, will post some photos soon.
2 replies on “Too Many Butterflies”
Beautiful butterflies, lucky you to see so many. That assassin bug almost got a meal.
I like the Phantom Galaxy, the spiral galaxies are so pretty.
Here, the hooded mergansers are back and we’ve been seeing great horned owls even in the daytime. Also a Bonaparte’s gull on LaFramboise causeway.
I like the spiral galaxies too. Galaxy season is coming soon, I can hardly wait. I’ve been working on another nebula for now. Had some Barn Owls yesterday, will post some photos soon.