Scorpius rising

 The Flower Moon of May has exited the evening sky.  It is dark again.  Last night the sky brightness was sqml= 21.66 mpsas.  The wind laid down around 10pm, so it was time to take advantage of the evening calm.

Scorpius rising over a southern ridge of Snowshoe Mountain.

The photo above was taken with an Olympus E-M1iii + Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens and a Hoya Softon-A filter (ISO 1600, 60 s), riding on a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer tracking mount.  The orange star just above the dark ridgeline is Antares, the 15th brightest star.

This view was obtained 45 min later using an Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens and no filters.  In both of these images there is some green airglow evident in the lower part of the frame.

The quadrilateral figure formed by the bright stars of the constellation Corvus (the Crow) is hard to miss in the southern sky:

Corvus.  Sigma 30mm f/1.4 + Hoya Sparkle-6 filter.

In this image the bright star in the upper left corner is Spica (Alpha Virginis), the 16th brightest star.  When Spica crosses the southern meridian the giant globular cluster Omega Centauri will be skimming the horizon almost directly below.

Omega Centauri skimming the horizon.  Olympus 75mm f/1.8.

In this image Omega Centauri is reddened by its low position in the sky.  It is also veiled by bands of murky airglow.

High in the sky the constellations Hercules and Corona Borealis (Northern Crown)  stand above the airglow.

Hercules (lower left) and Corona Borealis (upper right). 30mm f/1.4 + softon.

Hercules  and Corona Borealis.  30mm f/1.4 + Sparkle-6.

The constellation Corona Borealis is worth watching.  It contains a recurrent nova that is expected to flare up sometime this year.  When it does this star will briefly be comparable in brightness to the brightest star in this constellation and the Northern Crown will gain a new (temporary) gem.