"Moon Mars Saturn Jupiter"
At dusk on 24 July 2018, Jupiter (top right) and Saturn (just below the moon) emerged from the deepening blue, and Saturn (the Greek god of agriculture) accompanied a 94% gibbous moon through the night. After all three had crossed towards the west (left to right), reddish Mars rose above the southeastern horizon, clipping the Blasdel Barn on its westward journey. While Mars was hiding behind the barn, I used my headlamp to make a quick light painting of the faded red walls. Then — after a few hours' sleep — I added the layers together. Moon images 3:00 minutes apart, planet images 1:30 minutes apart. Frank W. Porter built the barn in 1908, and the Blasdel family purchased it in 1945. They sold it to the Fish & Wildlife Service in 1987, and today it is part of the Blasdel Waterfowl Production Area. But really it excels at producing mosquitoes.
