The Photo of the Week winner on December 31, 2021, is Luca Vanzella, who captured 13 sunrise images between December 2020 and December 2021.
Captured on his Canon 60D and Canon EF0S 10-18mm lens at an f/4.5 aperture, Vanzella created this stack of images by photographing the sunrise once a month for a year.
He photographed this horizon that is viewable at Valleyview Drive in Edmonton, and Vanzella said it is one of the best places to not only see the sunrise, but also observe the changes in sunrise points.
“In Edmonton, Alberta, at latitude 53.5 North, the change in the sunrise point in the six months between solstices is quite large (84 degrees),” Vanzella wrote.
Contrary to popular belief, the Sun does not always rise in the East and set in the West, as Vanzella notes in his submission. This only occurs twice a year, at the equinoxes.
“The sunrise point changes due to the tilt of Earth’s axis of rotation with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun,” he wrote. “The change is most perceptible around the equinoxes (around March 21 and September 21) and least perceptible around the solstices (around June 21 and December 21). The farther north or south from Earth’s Equator, the greater the total change in the sunrise position.”
Honourable mention
This week’s honourable mention goes to Shakeel Anwar, who captured a composite image of the Geminid Meteor Shower during the early morning hours of December 14, 2021.
Anwar said he went to the banks of Lake Erie, which was a one-and-a-half hour drive from his home in Mississauga, Ontario, to capture the meteors. After setting up his Canon 6D on a iOptron Skyguider Pro, he began taking 30-second exposures using an intervalometer. He managed to capture a remarkable 35 meteors during his shoot, which he composed together in his photo submission.
The Geminid meteor shower is an annual meteor shower, typically occurring around mid-December depending on the year. It is one of the most reliably observed meteor showers every year. The prolific shower peaks at about 120 meteors per hour, or approximately two per minute.
While most meteor showers are from comet debris, the source of the Geminid Meteor Shower is the asteroid 3200 Phaethon.
Every week, SkyNews publishes the best image from among those sent in by readers from all across Canada. Whether you’re an expert or a beginner at night sky photography, we’re looking for your pictures! Enter today for your chance to win a Photo of the Week title and one of our annual prizes!
