1350-114 - Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) over the still waters this night of Crawling Lake in southern Alberta. This was early in the evening with the sky still brightly coloured with twilight. The comet was in the southern part of Ursa Major between the pairs of stars called Tania and Talitha. The clouds that were present nicely framed the scene and reflected in the water as well. The comet was too high to be visible as a reflection at this time.
1350-50 - Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major, a classic face-on spiral galaxy, large and obvious in binoculars. The odd galaxy at bottom is NGC 5474.
857-25623 - Black Thunder coal mine on Thunder Basin National Grassland, WY. Mike Hockett and Cary Klein are operationg the Ursa Major drag line. This is the largest operating piece of earth moving equipment in North America and removes about 150 feet of overburden to get to a 70 foot seam of coal. Royalties from the coal on the grassland generation about $30 million a year.
857-25624 - Black Thunder coal mine on Thunder Basin National Grassland, WY. Mike Hockett and Cary Klein are operationg the Ursa Major drag line. This is the largest operating piece of earth moving equipment in North America and removes about 150 feet of overburden to get to a 70 foot seam of coal. Royalties from the coal on the grassland generation about $30 million a year.