Transitional Sky

Is this Twilight ?
I always thought so, but then again, I also thought the stars were visible in twilight too.

Sunrise and sunset are events, twilight is a state of transition.
Most dictionaries define it as: a period of time before sunrise and after sunset, in which the atmosphere is partially illuminated by the sun, being neither totally dark or completely lit.

OK, so are the stars visible, or not ??? !

To me, the definition is inexact and still a bit vague, kind of like the word vague is vague, or how truthiness, semi-uncertain, ambiguous and nebulous are, well.... unclear.

After a bit of research, I gained some new knowledge about twilight...
It turns out there are actually three states of twilight ;
Civil twilight, Nautical twilight and Astronomical twilight, each of which have a dusk and dawn of their own.
The following is a summary of how the National Weather Service describes them:

Civil Twilight occurs when the sun has past the horizon but is no more than 6 degrees below the horizon.
Civil twilight is the brightest form of twilight, in this sate of light;
there is enough natural sunlight, artificial light may not be required for most outdoor activities.
Only the brightest celestial objects can be observed by the naked eye during this time.
Most countries have laws written about this time of day regarding city street lights, driving, hunting or other areas pertaining to lowered visibility and public safety.

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I would not have lumped the words "city streets", "driving" and "hunting" all together in the same sentence, like the National Weather Service did.

Really, come on guys, hunting while driving on city streets is just wrong and completely unsafe !
When it comes to this level of public endangerment, it really doesn't matter whether the streets are well lit during Civil twilight or not.

In the United States, I'm fairly sure most states have laws against this sort of behavior, if not, it might be a good idea to think about enacting some.
It seems to me that, hunting and driving might be slightly more dangerous than texting and driving and, there are laws against that.
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Nautical Twilight occurs when the sun is between 6 and 12 degrees below the Horizon.
The term, nautical twilight, dates back to the time when sailors used the stars to navigate the seas. During this time, most stars can be easily seen with naked eyes. Artificial light is needed for most activities.

Astronomical twilight occurs when the sun is between 12 and 18 degrees below the horizon.
In this period of twilight there is only enough light to faintly make out the horizon and, almost all celestial objects that can be seen with the naked eye are visible. Any darker than this is, is to be considered dark.

All that really matters to me is ... I find this time of day to be the most peaceful, the world seems at ease, the small critters are making happy sounds and, the light is perfect for photographic opportunities like this.


Water tower with purple floodlights, moon and mountain in twilight.
Gilbert, Arizona 2018



Canon EOS Rebel SL1

Shutter : 3.2 seconds
Aperture : 25.0
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 105mm
Filter: None
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