Northern Lights over Saginaw Bay by Tom Clark Photography
Tom shares that after a six week wait, the Aurora Borealis finally returned over Saginaw Bay on Sunday. I saw Tom’s photo after my morning walk under crystal clear skies with a new moon, and it reminded me to remind you about the peak of the annual Draconid meteor shower over the next three days!
Follow Tom on Facebook for his latest and view & purchase work from his Astro Collection and other galleries on his website.
Thumb Barn Milky Way & Meteor by Charles Bonham
While the dates of meteor showers are more or less evergreen, I like to update the posts because the effect of the moon can be very different! In addition to being the season of cider, changing leaves, and Halloween, October also comes with two meteor showers. Our friends at EarthSky give you all you need to know to see the Draconid & Orionid meteor showers:
The best time to watch the Draconid Meteor Shower is as darkness falls on the evening of October 8 through the wee hours of the morning on October 9. There’s a new moon on October 10 so the sliver of crescent moon won’t interfere with watching for Draconid meteors this year. The Draconid shower is a real oddity, in that the radiant point stands highest in the sky as darkness falls (great for the early to bed crowd!). That means that, unlike many meteor showers, more Draconids are likely to fly in the evening hours than in the morning hours after midnight. This shower is usually a sleeper, producing only a handful of languid meteors per hour in most years. But watch out if the Dragon awakes! In rare instances, fiery Draco has been known to spew forth many hundreds of meteors in a single hour.
The predicted peak for the Orionid meteor shower is on October 21, 2026 but the Orionids are known to have a broad, plateau-like maximum lasting several nights. So several mornings around October 21 would potentially show you some meteors. Note that you’ll be competing with a bright, waxing moon — up for most of the night. It’ll be encroaching on your sky darkness more with each passing day. Full moon falls on the night of October 25-26. Still, don’t let that bright moon in early evening fool you! You will have a dark window before dawn for watching the Orionids around the peak mornings. They are known as the Orionids because they appear to radiate from the Club of the well-known constellation Orion the Hunter.
Charles shares that he found a Draconid meteor in this photo of a barn in Pinnebog from October 2024 after reviewing many different frames. You can see it right next to the left side of barn roof along with a hint of Northern Lights on the right side! Follow Charles on Flickr for his latest and see more in his Barns gallery on Flickr including some truly spectacular ones of this barn under the aurora!
James Scott Memorial Fountain by Darryl Wattenberg
I learned last week from Raw Detroit that they will soon be removing the construction barriers around the James Scott Memorial Fountain on Belle Isle. One of the questions a lot of folks have been asking is whether or not the renovated fountain will have colored lights like in Darryl’s photo from 2014. The article doesn’t say, but they note that the iconic Vermont white marble fountain with 109 water outlets shaped like dolphins, turtles, lions, and human figures, and a center jet that can throw water 125 feet in the air won’t have the water turned back on til Spring of 2027.
Check out some of Darryl’s most popular pics on Flickr
You can read more about the controversial history of the James Scott Memorial Fountain on Michigan in Pictures. Here’s a video of the the fountain at night:
Midnight Light by Michigan Nut Photography
John shared this stunning photo of the Frankfort Lighthouse nine September 25ths ago when he and his wife (and his new Nikon D850) hung out on Frankfort Pier watching the night fisherman and midnight boaters. See the latest from John at Michigan Nut Photography on Facebook and view & purchase his work (including this photo) in the Michigan Lighthouses gallery on his website!
Mackinac Bridge Moonrise by David Marvin
I’m very excited about the near-total eclipse of the full moon that begins at 10:33pm tonight (Thu, Aug 27) with the maximum 96% coverage at 12:12am on Friday.
If the forecast for mainly clear skies across Michigan’s Upper & Lower Peninsulas isn’t thrilling enough, there is a G2 (Moderate) Aurora Alert which means that Michigan has a better than usual chance to see the Northern Lights as well! I found a cool site from University of Michigan called AuroraTonight that gives you a good look at sky conditions & chances where you live.
David captured this shot of the full moon rising over the Mackinac Bridge back in July of 2024. Follow him on Flickr for his latest!
PS: It’s pretty darn cool & synchronistic that the August full moon was known as the Sturgeon Moon by Michigan Natives.
Lunar Eclipse at the Penobscot by Tom Hughes
Space.com shares that we’re just one week away from a near total lunar eclipse on the evening of August 27-28, 2026:
Stargazers on the night side of Earth (that’s us!) will catch their first glimpse of our planet’s umbra (the darkest, innermost part of its shadow) creeping onto the moon’s surface at 10:33 p.m. EDT on Aug. 27. The vast shadow will continue its advance across the crater-scarred landscape in the hours that follow, until it hits the point of maximum eclipse at 12:12 a.m. EDT on Aug. 28.
Around this time, you may notice the shadowed region of the moon take on a reddish-orange color, as sunlight filtered through Earth’s atmosphere is bent onto the lunar surface — a phenomenon often referred to as a “Blood Moon” during a total eclipse.
I first shared this amazing shot of a partial lunar eclipse over the Detroit skyline way back in 2015. See more great photos from Tom on Flickr.
Astro Farming by Kenneth Snyder
The Perseid Meteor Shower that peaks this week is often Michigan’s best meteor display, and it might be part of the best 24 hours of the year for sky watching! Star Walk is the app I use to determine what I’m looking at in the night sky, and they are touting Wednesday, August 12 as the biggest skywatching day of 2026. In less than 24 hours, the sky will put on three major shows — a six-planet alignment before sunrise, a total solar eclipse during the day or evening, and the peak of the Perseid meteor shower after dark. While we will only see a slight partial eclipse in Michigan, it is definitely a good time to be looking up!
Kenneth took these photos years ago & I’m low key embarrassed it took so long for me to feature after saving it! Check out more pics in Kenneth’s Sleeping Bear Dunes gallery on Flickr and follow Unified Photo on Facebook.
Updating this decade old classic so WordPress keeps sharing it. Definitely watch Ken’s Perseid video at the end!
D H Day Farm … perseid meteor shower by Ken Scott Photography
Space.com has an interesting story about how the upcoming Perseid Meteor shower (peak August 11-13) came to be known as “The Tears of St. Lawrence” and also some of the science behind this annual August sky show:
Laurentius, a Christian deacon, is said to have been martyred by the Romans in 258 AD on an iron outdoor stove. It was in the midst of this torture that Laurentius cried out: “I am already roasted on one side and, if thou wouldst have me well cooked, it is time to turn me on the other.”
The saint’s death was commemorated on his feast day, Aug. 10. King Phillip II of Spain built his monastery place the “Escorial,” on the plan of the holy gridiron. And the abundance of shooting stars seen annually between approximately Aug. 8 and 14 have come to be known as St. Lawrence’s “fiery tears.”
…We know today that these meteors are actually the dross of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Discovered back in 1862, this comet takes approximately 130 years to circle the Sun. With each pass, it leaves fresh debris — mostly the size of sand grains with a few peas and marbles tossed in. Every year during mid-August, when the Earth passes close to the orbit of Swift-Tuttle, the bits and pieces ram into our atmosphere at approximately 37 miles per second (60 kps) and create bright streaks of light.
Also check out Earthsky’s Perseid Meteor viewing guide!
Ken captured these Perseid meteors eleven Augusts ago over a 2 1/2 hour period at the D.H. Day Farm in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. He relates that the barn was being lit periodically by rogue lightning and that this is a composite of many meteor images, where each photo is rotated around the north star so that the ‘point of origin’ of the shower can be seen better.
See more in his Skies Above gallery on Flickr & follow Ken Scott Photography on Facebook for his latest!
The Sky Lit Up at Isle Royale by Lake Superior Photo
The NOAA / National Weather Service Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G3 Aurora Alert this morning after detecting THREE Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) heading our way. Details are in the image or on their website, but the current forecast calls for combined CME arrival around mid-afternoon EDT of June 4, with up to G3 levels possible afterwards, possibly continuing into Friday night. You can read about the various scales used to measure the aurora, but a G3 alert means that it’s possible we could see the lights in EVERY part of the state!!
Shawn shared this photo recently saying “What an amazing night at Isle Royale National Park – the sky lit up✨ The night of 05.28.2025 – memorable!!! You always hope to time Isle Royale visits like this.”
Indeed! So many Northern Lights & UP photos (including this one) available for viewing & purchase at Lake Superior Photo. And if you can’t get out or get a clear sky, Shawn has you covered with regular nighttime live streams of Lake Superior on her Facebook page!
Rockport Recreation Area by SG Captures
Sometimes I start projects and stick with them like cataloging the waterfalls of the Great Lakes State, profiling all of Michigans turtles, or finding Michigan’s tallest things. Many other times, I start them, see a squirrel, and promptly forget about them. Such is the case with an idea one of Sarah’s photos sparked 4 years ago today to profile all six of Michigan Dark Sky Preserves & our two Dark Sky Parks. Now there’s even an entire Dark Sky Island so let’s get busy!
Visit Alpena shares that Rockport State Recreation Area in northeast Michigan’s Presque Isle County was Michigan’s 100th State park and holds a variety of terrain and unique geologic, historic, and natural elements. They also share:
Rural isolation has its benefits. Being miles away from any major metropolitan area gives northeast Michigan an unique advantage for those who enjoy the mysteries revealed in the night sky. Our lack of concentrated light pollution makes the cosmos appear crisp and clear. Dark lands can be found at Rockport State Park Recreation Area where light emissions are among the lowest in the Great Lakes. Stars, meteors, planets and moons await your discovery.
More about Rockport Recreation Area and Michigan Dark Sky Parks, Preserves & Sanctuaries from the State of Michigan.
Sarah is a Michigan State Parks Photo Ambassador which seems like a very cool thing to be. You should definitely check out her website where you can view & purchase her work as well as her Facebook & sg.captures on Instagram!
Dark Skies at Rockport Recreation Area by SG Captures
