Richard Bell's Astrophotography

Crescent Moon at Dusk Simple hand-held shot with a Canon 6D and Sigma 28-135mm lens set at 50mm (f/5). It is a 1/40-second exposure at ISO 800 taken on August 3, 2019 from Richland...
Crescent Moon at Dusk
Northern Lights A 30-second exposure at ISO 800 with a Canon 300D on a stationary tripod. Taken at the Kalamazoo Nature Center on December 14, 2006.
Northern Lights
Green Aurora A 30-second exposure at ISO 800 with a Canon 300D on a stationary tripod. Taken at the Kalamazoo Nature Center on December 14, 2006. The bowl of the Big Dipper...
Green Aurora
Alberta Aurora Taken from Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada on August 28, 2014. Equipment used includes a Canon 550D (T2i) using a Tokina 11-18mm lens set at 11mm...
Alberta Aurora
STEVE This phenomenon has been known for decades, but wasn't formally discovered until 2016. STEVE stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement. It appears...
STEVE
Aurora Over Lake Huron Taken from Rockport State Recreation Area near Alpena, Michigan on September 3, 2016. Equipment used includes a Canon 550D (T2i) using a Tokina 11-18mm lens set...
Aurora Over Lake Huron
Great American Eclipse This high dynamic range (HDR) image of the August 21, 2017 Great American Eclipse was made from images with exposures ranging from 1/4000 - 1/4-second at ISO...
Great American Eclipse
Prominences at Totality Taken from the Jim Moss Arena near Riverton, Wyoming on August 21, 2017. Prominences are visible at about 3 and 5 o'clock. It is a 1/500-second exposure at ISO...
Prominences at Totality
Baily's Beads Named for Francis Baily, who explained the phenomenon after an eclipse in 1836. Taken from the Jim Moss Arena near Riverton, Wyoming on August 21, 2017. It is a...
Baily's Beads
Earthshine "The new moon in the old moon's arms." This image of an overexposed waxing crescent Moon, revealing Earthshine, was acquired with "Nona," the Tele Vue NP101is...
Earthshine
First Quarter Moon Technically taken about 14 hours after first quarter on July 27, 2020 at 10:30 pm EDT. Equipment used includes "Nona," the Tele Vue NP101is in Owl Observatory....
First Quarter Moon
Waxing Gibbous Moon Taken September 30, 2017 with a Stellarvue 130mm f/7 refractor and Canon 6D on an Astro-Physics Mach1GTO German equatorial mount at the Kalamazoo Nature Center....
Waxing Gibbous Moon
Waxing Gibbous Moon The waxing gibbous Moon on the frigid night of January 15, 2022. Taken from Owl Observatory using a Tele Vue NP101is. It is a 1/250-second exposure with a Canon...
Waxing Gibbous Moon
2015 Total Lunar Eclipse Taken September 27, 2015 with a TMB-92SS f/5.5 refractor and Canon 550D (T2i) on an Astro-Physics Mach1GTO German equatorial mount at Richland Township Park. It...
2015 Total Lunar Eclipse
2019 Total Lunar Eclipse This image went viral after being shared on Twitter by Elon Musk. It was also featured on spaceweather.com and CNET, likely making this Richard's most viewed...
2019 Total Lunar Eclipse
The Da Vinci Glow Leonardo da Vinci correctly explained Earthshine in the early 1500s, so that's why this phenomenon also bears his name. This image was acquired with "Nona," the...
The Da Vinci Glow
Moon & Mercury A 1.6-second exposure taken with a Canon 300D on May 6, 2008 at Richland Township Park.
Moon & Mercury
Triple Conjunction A triangle made up of the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus (top) appear to point at the Pleiades cluster. This is a 3.2-second exposure taken with a Canon 550D (T2i)...
Triple Conjunction
Moon Halo Taken on the cold, clear night of December 13, 2008 using a Canon 300D and 18-55mm zoom lens set at 18mm.
Moon Halo
Sunspot Group 2192 Sunspot group AR2192 was the biggest sunspot in nearly 25 years. It released multiple X-class solar flares causing HF radio blackouts. Taken with a Canon 550D...
Sunspot Group 2192