Steve DaCosta, Ranger & Photographer

10/23/2024

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) setting over the Hieroglyphic Mountains west of Lake Pleasant, Arizona.

10/22/2024

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) setting in the evening skies behind a group of Saguaro cacti at Lake Pleasant Regional Park, Arizona.

This comet, a visitor from the Oort Cloud, only visits the inner solar system once every 80,000 years! It'll still be visible for a few more days-- get out there and have a look!

10/12/2024

I breathed a huge sigh of relief Thursday night, as I missed the major geomagnetic storms in May. Not this time! A Kp Index of 8.3 and a strongly south-oriented magnetic field made the auroras dance in the sky over Arizona once again. Just after sunset, the pink and purple glow in the sky became quite obvious to the naked eye, as did the pillars!

05/07/2024

05/07/2024

Finally, a year later, I am finished with my 2023 wildflower photos. Having a baby sure doesn't leave much time to sit on the computer! I wouldn't change a thing, though. Becoming a dad has been an amazing adventure.

11/16/2023

A giant saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) stands among a superbloom of poppies on the San Carlos Apache Reservation about 2 hours east of Phoenix. The wet winter of 2022-2023 helped produce one of the best poppy blooms in recent memory from February into mid April.

11/09/2023

Hello, everyone! It's been almost two months since I posted. I've been a busy Ranger and a busy Dad! My son is growing like a w**d, almost six months old now! Thank god for my job because I often have my camera with me in the field and I'm able to take photos from time to time.

Last spring, before Henry was born, we had an amazing display of wildflowers statewide following a wet winter. While I may not be getting out to take photos often, I'm sitting on quite the backlog of old work to get pushed out!

This is Peridot Mesa on the San Carlos Apache Reservation about two hours east of Phoenix. You have to obtain a permit to go out there, but it's easy to do. I've been to several blooms in this area, but 2023 was simply astounding. Millions and millions of Mexican Gold Poppies as far as the eye could see!

08/21/2023

Sonoran Desert Tortoise