Toronto - a gem of a city for celestial photography?
A city like Toronto doesn’t jump to mind when contemplating astrophotography. After all, light pollution is abundant and constant. Indeed, rare are the nights when stars and galaxies litter the night sky. But don’t let that deter your camera from chasing celestial light. Toronto’s cityscape and location by Lake Ontario offer unique images of the sun and moon, sometimes accompanied by planets and a few (co)stars.
Toronto sunrises and sunsets
Like most people, I am easily transfixed by a colorful sunrise or sunset. In fact, I have coined the adjective redsplendent to describe the crimson ascent and descent of the sun. But it’s not just about color. During the pandemic lockdown in 2019, I developed the daily habit of photographing the sunrise in Toronto, and ended up studying how Toronto sunrises are a unique phenomenon, shaped by its travel over Lake Ontario to reach our city.
TorontoHenge
The astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson coined the term ManhattanHenge to mark the once-a-quarter alignment of the sunrise or sunset with the east-west streets of New York City. Toronto photographers have long discovered and demonstrated that the same phenomenon occurs here with the same frequency, and with the same redsplendent spectacles.
I am amongst a small group of devoted Toronto photographers who chase TorontoHenge at every opportunity. In October 2024, my TorontoHenge photography caught the attention of CTV News, CBC Radio and Radio Canada. When Degrasse Tyson was in town to give a talk on celestial phenomena, he mentioned TorontoHenge and used my photographs as illustration.
Syzygy
This is the phenomenon of three or more celestial bodies in alignment. Common syzygy occurrences include full moons, new moons and eclipses. When two or more planets (including possibly the moon) appear close to each other in the sky, they are in conjunction.