Welcome to the Air-and-Space.com Natural History Museum. Its primary themes are Geography, Geology, Zoology and Travel. The Air-and-Space.com Natural History Museum is a one man operation. I take most of the pictures, write the captions, create the pages, and make all the arbitrary editorial decisions.

Please note: The Air-and-Space.com Natural History Museum is just my web site. It is strictly virtual. I have no brickk-and-mortar museum for people to visit. The Air-and-Space.com Natural History Museum is not affiliated with any other museum, public or private. It's not nice to use my pictures on your web site without asking.*

Click on the images below to link to pages of photographs of natural history related subject matter:

Transit of Mercury: The planet Mercury passed directly between the Earth and the Sun this morning. This multiple exposure consists of eight exposures made at 8:43, 8:59, 9:29, 9:43, 9:53, 10:03, 10:20, and 10:41 AM MST. The next transit of Mercury visible fro the United States will occur in the year 2032.

On August 21, 2017, the Moon passed between the Earth and the Sun. From Scottsdale, the Moon covered about two thirds of the Sun's disk at the maximum of the eclipse.

Transit of Mercury: The planet Mercury passed directly between the Earth and the Sun this morning. This image is composed of six exposures made at 6:29, 7:07, 7:37, 8:24, 9:12, and 10:51.

On April 16, 2015, I went on a hike in Sycamore Canyon, a few miles north of Cottonwood. The trail runs along Sycamore Creek. A variety of wildflowers are in bloom.

On April 9, 2015, I went on a couple of short hikes at San Tan Mountain Regional Park to photograph spring wildflowers. Palo Verde Trees are covered in yellow flowers. Hedgehog, Cholla, and Prickly Pear Cacti are blooming.

Forest Houses Resort is a compound of cabins situated on 20 wooded acres in upper Oak Creek Canyon. Each cabin is different. My family has been renting cabins at Forest Houses for many years.

On March 20, 2015, I returned to McDowell Mountain Regional Park to photograph spring wildflowers. Creosote bushes are covered in yellow flowers. Penstemon are blooming along the numerous washes. Many Hedgehog cacti have started blooming. Buckorn Cholla sport flower buds on all their arms and should bloom spectacularly in the near future.

On March 15, 2015, I went for a short hike in Lost Dutchman State Park. A popular hiking trail leads up to the base of the cliffs of the Superstition Mountains.

On February 12, 2015, I went for a short hike in McDowell Mountain Regional Park.

On January 26, 2015, I went for a short hike in Cave Creek Regional Park.

On New Year's Eve, a winter storm dropped snow at uncommonly low elevations. On January 2, I photographed the snow on Four Peaks and other mountains in Usery Mountain Regional Park.

I arrived at Palm Spring Camp in the Saline Valley with friends on Monday, November 17 at sunset. We set up camp and stayed until Friday, November 21.

Time lapse movies taken in the Saline Valley in Death Valley National Park from November 18 to November 21, 2014. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 240. Fifteen seconds of video shows one hour of real time

On Monday, November 17, I drove up to the ghost town of Cerro Gordo at the crest of the Inyo Mountains with friends. We drove to the town of Keeler on the edge of Owens Dry Lake, and turned up the dirt road leading to Cerro Gordo. When we arrived at the ghost town, Robert, the local caretaker, drove out on his quad and greeted us. He treated us to a tour of the town, opening up all the buildings and the museum, which houses a collection of artifacts from the heyday of the mining industry.

On Sunday, November 16, I toured the Panamint Valley with friends. We stopped in Trona for lunch at Esparza Family Restaurant. We visited the ghost town of Ballarat and continued up the Indian Ranch Road on the east side of the Panamint Valley. We surveyed the valley from the Father Crowley Viewpoint.

On October 23, 2014, I toured the Mogollon Rim near Payson, Arizona to photograph the fall colors. I followed the Rim Road and other forest roads from Woods Canyon Lake to Highway 87 north of Strawberry. The weather was sunny and warm.

A major storm brought heavy rainfall and gale force winds to the Valley of the Sun on Saturday, September 27. Many trees have toppled and streets and parks are flooded.

On September 25, I drvoe through the town of Cherry to Mingus Mountain, overlooking the Verde Valley. The town of Cottonwood was directly below and the red rocks cliffs of Sedona could be seen an the far side of the valley as thunderheads built up in the distance.

Time lapse movie of weather near Flagstaff, Arizona on July 23 and 24, 2014. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 120.

The full Moon slipped through the Earth's shadow during the night of April 14 - 15, 2014.

Forest Houses is a compound of cabins ini Oak Creek Canyon. Each cabin is different. My sister has been renting cabins at Forest Houses for many years. I joined her for a few days at Chalet, on the bank of Oak Creek.

The Sonoran Desert National Monument encompasses 487,000 acres southwest of Phoenix. Much of the monument is wilderness with no motorized access. Route 8001 skirts the north edge of the North Maricopa Mountains Wilderness. It can be accessed from Highway 85 at Woods Road, about 21 miles south of I-17. There is no sign for the monument at the highway. It follows a narrow valley between rugged mountains of the North Maricopa Range. Saguaros and Creosote are the predominant plants. Mesquite and Palo Verde Trees grow along numerous dry washes.

Forest Houses is a compound of cabins ini Oak Creek Canyon. Each cabin is different. My sister has been renting cabins at Forest Houses for many years. I joined her for a few days at Cloud House, on the bank of Oak Creek.

Time lapse movie of weather near Flagstaff, Arizona from September 6 to 11, 2013. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 120.

Thunderstorms moved through the Flagstaff area on Saturday, July 20. I set up a camera to shoot a time lapse movie of the lightning.

Time lapse movie of monsoon weather near Flagstaff, Arizona from July 15 to 17, 2013. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 120.

Time lapse movie of monsoon weather near Flagstaff, Arizona from July 18 to 20, 2013. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 120. The speed of the action of the lightning storm at the end of the video has been increased by a factor of 20.

Red Rock Crossing is located on Oak Creek near Sedona. It features good views of Cathedral Rock, which is a popular subject for photographers and painters. It is also popular with new agers who meditate at the Cathedral Rock Vortex and build numerous rock cairns.

The Nature Conservancy maintains a desert river habitat at the Hassayampa River Preserve near Wickenberg, Arizona.

Comet PanSTARRS can be seen shortly after sunset for the next few days. It appears just a few minutes before it sets. Use binoculars to see it.

The Lightning Display has been updated with photos and time lapse movies of the 2012 monsoon.

Time lapse movies of rainfall and turbulence on the underside of a cumulonimbus cloud over Scottsdale on July 28 and the approach of a cumulonimbus cell toward Phoenix on July 29, 2012. The speed of the action has been increased by a factor of 150

I spent several days in Pioneer Valley, northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona photographing the summer thunderstorms associated with the monsoon weather. Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico moved into the area on Thursday, July 19.

I spent several days in Pioneer Valley, northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona photographing the summer thunderstorms associated with the monsoon weather. Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico moved into the area on Thursday, July 19. I shot exposures at five second intervals to assemble a time lapse movie. At night the exposures were four seconds long to capture the flashes of lightning.

I reprocessed the lightning sequences from my Monsoon Weather Over Flagstaff video to improve the visibility of the lightning.

On June 5, 2012, the planet Venus passed between the Earth and the Sun. This will not happen again until the year 2117.

On May 20, 2102, the Moon passed between the Earth and the Sun. The Moon was near Apogee, the high point in its orbit, so it did not cover the entire face of the Sun, resulting in an annular eclipse.

I recently toured the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, Arizona on sunny spring day. Many types of Agave were sending up flower spikes. Flower buds are appearing on the Saguaros, but only a few have bloomed.

I recently went for a 90 minute cruise on Saguaro Lake aboard the Desert Belle. Saguaro Lake is located east of Phoenix on the Salt River, downriver of Canyon Lake and Apache Lake. The landscape is dominated by Four Peaks and the Goldfield Mountains. It is reached by way of the Bush Highway.

Oak Creek meanders through Red Rock State Park near Sedona. The creek is lined with Sycamore and Cottonwood Trees. Several hiking trails provide access to the hills that surround the park.

I recently went for a 90 minute cruise on Canyon Lake aboard the stern-wheeler Dolly. Canyon Lake is located east of Phoenix on the Salt River, between Saguaro Lake and Apache Lake. The landscape is dominated by eroded volcanic tuff from a giagantic caldera eruption that occurred about twenty-nine million years ago.

I have been touring back roads around Flagstaff and the Mogollon Rim seeking landscapes to photograph.

My latest Arizona Gigapans feature Sunset Crater, the San Francicsco Peaks, White Horse Hils, the Verde Valley, Eldon Hills, and Willow Spring Lake.

A low pressure zone hovering over southern Utah directed unstable air into northern Arizona from the west, opposite the usual monsoon flow. Cumulus clouds form over the San Francisco peaks, building to the stratosphere, becoming cumulonimbus clouds that drop heavy rain, and spout downbursts. as they drift across the landscape. The speed of the action in this time lapse movie has been increased by a factor of 120.

Cumulonimbus clouds drift across the east valley bringing rain, lightning, and thunder. The speed of the action in this time lapse movie has been increased by a factor of 120 during the day and 150 after sunsset.

This image was assembled from 22 exposures taken between 7:42 PM and 7:54 PM.

Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico brings turbulent air, cumulus clouds and localized showers to the Flagstaff area. Towering Cumulonimbus clouds rise seven miles to the bottom of the Stratosphere and then spread across the sky. The San Francisco Peaks can be seen to produce their own orographic cloudes. This movie was shot from August 24 to August 27. The speed of the action in this time lapse movie has been increased by a factor of 120.

This movie was shot from August 28 to August 31.

My latest Arizona Gigapans were taken in the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests near San Francicsco Peaks.

Here's a pan and scan tour of panoramas that I made of California landmarks.

Time lapse movie of another Haboob blowing through Phoenix, Arizona on August 18, 2011. This time lapse movie speeds up the action by a factor of 120.

View my panoramic Arizona landscape photography. These panoramas are stitched together from multiple images to produce very wide angle, high resolution images. Many of these panoramas were taken with the assistance of a Gigapan robotic camera mount. Some of them were assembled from over 500 pictures and could be printed over four feet tall. Part 1 shows panoramas taken from December 2008 to August 2010.

View my panoramic Arizona landscape photography. Part 2 shows panoramas taken from August 2010 to July 2011.

Time lapse movie of monsoon weather over Phoenix, Arizona on July 31, 2011. A large thundercell approaches Phoenix from the southeast. A Haboob blows across the lower frame from left to right. After sunset, lightning flashes illuminate the clouds. Air traffic at Sky Harbor Airport reroutes to avoid the dust and storm clouds. This time lapse movie speeds up the action by a factor of 120.

My latest Arizona Gigapans were taken of ancient stone dwellings at Wupatki National Monument.

Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico brings turbulent air, cumulus clouds and localized showers to the Flagstaff area. The San Francisco Peaks can be seen to produce their own orographic cloudes. The speed of the action in this time lapse movie has been increased by a factor of 120.

Time lapse movie of monsoon weather over Phoenix, Arizona on July 18, 2011. The turbulent skies produced a haboob that swept across Phoenix and fumigated the neighborhood with dust. This time lapse movie speeds up the action by a factor of 120.

Moist air from the gulf of Mexico is bringing cloudy skies and thunderstorms to Arizona. This time lapse movie speeds up the action by a factor of 60.

Here's a short time lapse movie of the Haboob that blew across the valley on July 5, 2011.

On June 13, 2011, I visited Winslow, Arizona. I continued out Highway 87 and visited Little Painted Desert County Park and Homol'ovi State Park ancestral Hopi villages.

I recently toured the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, Arizona on sunny spring day. Many types of Agave were sending up flower spikes that will bloom in the near future. Flower buds are appearing on the Saguaros, but only a few have bloomed.

The Salt River flows down from Roosevelt Lake through a series of reservoirs to and through the city of Phoenix.

Watson Lake is a man-made reservoir nestled among granitic bouolders near Prescott, Arizona. It is a popular recreational destination, offering fishing, bird-watching, boulder climbing, hiking, and boating. Kayaks and canoes can be rented. I visited Watson Lake on January 24.

In late December, a winter storm dropped a load of snow on Arizona. Snow still remained on the north slopes of Four Peaks two weeks later. On January 13, I drove up the Soldier Camp Trail through Brushy Basin up to the Pigeon Spring Road on the top of the ridge and then descended down the el Oso Road into the Tonto Basin above Roosevelt Lake.

On October 21, I toured the Mogollon Rim near Payson, Arizona to photograph the fall colors. I followed the Rim Road and other forest roads from Woods Canyon Lake to Highway 87 north of Strawberry. The weather was overcast and it rained intermittently. I returned to the Coconino Forest above the Mogollon Rim on Thursday, November 4 to photograph more fall color.

As I was exploring forest roads above the Mogollon Rim on Thursday, October 21, I found an area where many of the trees had been broken off or knocked over. I returned to the Coconino Forest above the Mogollon Rim on Thursday, November 4 to photograph more of the tornado damage.

If a tornado rips down hundreds of trees in the forest, but there is nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound?

I visited the south rim of the Grand Canyon on September 24. The next day I visited the north rim of the Grand Canyon. On my way back to Flagstaff, I drove along the Vermilion Cliffs and crossed Marble Canyon on the Navajo Bridge.

Tonto Natural Bridge is the largest travertine bridge in the United States. It is located north of Payson off Highway 87.

I recently visited Flagstaff and did some sight-seeing. I shot panoramas at Meteor Crater, Walnut Canyon National Monument and Grand Falls on the Little Colorado River. I shot a time lapse movie showing two days of monsoon weather.

On Sunday August 8, I took a day trip up to Payson and the Mogollon Rim, where I visited Willow Springs Lake. I shot panoramas and a time lapse movie of the lake.

In late June I visited Flagstaff. The Schultz Fire had started several days earlier and burned much of the east side of San Francisco Peaks. I explored the forest roads leading south to overlooks of the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon and the Red Rock Secret Wilderness.

The Salt River flows down from Roosevelt Lake through a series of reservoirs to and through the city of Phoenix. It is running very high this spring.

Ocotillo, Creosote, and Brittlebush are in bloom near Desert Center, California

You can buy framed prints and greeting cards of this photo.

I spent five days camping in the Saline Valley in April 2010. Lows were in the 40s, the highs were in the eighties. The sky was mostly cloudless. The wind was fairly calm until the last two nights.

Page 1: Driving into the valley

You can buy framed prints and greeting cards of this photo.

Page 2: Campout

After a recent winter storm, I drove east out of Scottsdale to Four Peaks in the Tonto National Forest.

You can buy framed prints and greeting cards of this photograph.

I recently toured the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, Arizona on an overcast day. A Coati Mundi was munching berries in a tree along the trail.

After a week of winter storms, I drove out the Apache Trail to Tortilla Flat.

On Saturday, December 6, I started at the Mojave Airport. I drove north on the Antelope Valley Freeway to Nine Mile Canyon, which I followed to Kennedy Meadows. Above Kennedy Meadows, just past Fish Ctreek Meadow at an elevation of 7,800 feet, the road was icy, so I returned the same way.

Kennedy Meadows is reached by way of nine Mile Canyon

The crescent Moon joined Venus and Jupiter in conjunction on December 1. Venus is in the middle and brighter than Jupiter. The Moon is about 240,000 miles away. Venus is a bit over 100,000,000 miles away. It is setting later each evening and will reach maximum elongation on January 15. Jupiter is almost 600,000,0000 miles away. It is setting earlier each evening and will be in conjunction with the Sun on January 24.

The crescent Moon moves away from Venus and Jupiter between 6:34 PM and 7:20 PM PST. I animated six frames taken between sunset and moonset.

On Sunday, October 5, I shot a series of panoramas with my Gigapan robotic camera mount in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, and up at Horshoe Meadow in the Sierra Nevada. On Monday, I drove across Lee Flat, over Hunter Mountain, through Ulida Flat and Hidden Valley, via Teakettle Junction to Racetrack Playa. Then I cruised through Racetrack Valley, past Dry Mountain to Ubehebe Crater.

Although it was late in the season there was a spectacular Poppy bloom in the Antelope Valley on April 26, 2008.

Slideshow of wildflower photos.

I spent five days in the Saline Valley photographing scenery and jets in the wild. Two days after I returned home, the winds were gusting to 48 miles per hour where I was camping.

Panamint Valley and Saline Valley Slideshow: Slideshow of scenery in Panamint Valley and Saline Valley in March 2008.

I used some new methods to build panoramas from old slides that required a lot of perspective correction. I also straightened out some of the more recent panoramas.

On a typically windy day in the Saline Valley I spotted a most unusual cloud.

On Monday, October 8, we toured the Alabama Hills and then drove up to Papoose Flat in the Inyo Mountains.

On Tuesday, October 9, we drove over Cerro Gordo Pass in the Inyo Mountains, then cruised through Lee Flat on our way to Hunter Mountain.

I photographed the 2007 Aurigid meteor shower from my back yard.

Several thundercells blew across western Santa Barbara County early in the morning on Thursday, August 30.

The eclipsed Moon was visible over Goleta early on the morning of August 28, 2007.

I have assembled a collection of my still photos and time-lapse videos of the Zaca Fire.

This composite image shows three Perseid meteors in the sky over Goleta on the morning of Monday, August 13. I set up my camera to take a 10-second long exposure every eleven seconds. That way the shutter was open more than 90% of the time. The lens was wide open at f3.5 and the ISO was set to 1600. The camera fired off 796 exposures between 1:27 and 3:55 AM. The meteor's tracks point back toward the shower's radiant in the constellation Perseus. These meteors were captured in exposures made at 1:31, 1:42, and 3:19 AM.

Over Veteran's Day weekend I toured Owens Valley, the Inyo Mountains, Panamint Valley, and Trona Pinnacles. I shot several panoramic photos along the way.

The planet Mercury passed directly between the Earth and the Sun on Wednesday, November 8. First contact occurred at 11:12 AM PST. Final contact occurred at 4:10 PM PST.

It's the time of year when the Anna's Hummingbirds return to Goleta. An assertive male is establishing his territory in the back yard.

The Saline Valley is a remote and beautiful part of Death Valley National Park. The primitive roads and utter lack of services make it one of the least visited parts of the park.

Early in the morning on Friday August 12, I drove to the top of the Santa Ynez Mountains to observe the Perseid Meteor Shower. I observed for 100 minutes. In that time, I counted 51 Perseid meteors and two erratic meteors (not associated with the Perseid Shower). I shot 94 thirty-second time exposures with a Nikon D70 set to an effective film speed of 1600 ASA. I used an 18mm f3.5 lens. On those 94 exposures I found four meteor streaks.

Figueroa Mountain in Santa Barbara County is home to a wide variety of wildflowers.

Here's a display of wildflower pictures from a trip to Death Valley during the first weekend in April. Stops along the way include the Antelope Valley, Inyo Mountains, Alabama Hills, Augereberry Point, Wildrose Canyon, and the Padre Crowley Overlook above the Panamint Valley.

The California Poppies are starting to come up in profusion in the Antelope Valley. More pictures, taken on Tuesday March 29, have been added to the 2005 Wildflower display.

On Thursday, October 21, I shot a series of panoramas along the length of East Camino Cielo on the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains above Goleta and Santa Barbara. Camino Cielo features many sweeping vistas of the Santa Barbara Channel and the San Rafael Wilderness.

On Tuesday, October 5, 2004, my sister and I drove our Toyota 4Runners to the ghost town of Ballarat in the Panamint Valley with the intent of 4-wheeling up Pleasant Canyon to Rogers Pass.

I drove up to the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara at 3:00 in the morning on Thursday, August 12, 2004 to photograph the Perseid meteor shower.

Here is a collection of Moon photos and animations, including the total lunar eclipse that occurred on OIctober 27, 2004.

I drag the tripod out into the rain whenever I see the flash of lightning.

Tour of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah in early September 2003.

I traveled to the Antelope Valley twice in April 2003 to photograph the wildflower bloom.

On the longest day of 2002, I drove up the Swansea-Cerro Gordo Road to the Burgess Mine at the crest of the Inyo Mountains just before sunset. I continued across the crest of the Inyo Mountains to Cerro Gordo, arriving as the full moon rose.

Voyage to Antarctica on the MV Hanseatic in January 2001. 

See my videos of the voyage on my Antarctic Cruise, January 2001 playlist at YouTube.

Penguins seen on the antarctic voyage of the MV Hanseatic.

Seals seen on the antarctic voyage of the MV Hanseatic.

Seabirds seen on the antarctic voyage of the MV Hanseatic.

Land birds seen on the antarctic voyage of the MV Hanseatic.

You can see all of my calendars and books at my Lulu.com Lockett Books storefront.

Books about Antarctica and antarctic exploration for sale at

Mawson's Will : The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written (Paperback). by Lennard Bickel

Endurance : Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

The Endurance : Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander

South : A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage by Ernest Henry Shackleton, Sir Ernest Shackleton

South With Endurance : Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition 1914-1917

The South Pole by Roald E. Amundsen

The Coldest March: Scott`s Fatal Antarctic Expedition by Susan Solomon

The Last Place on Earth (Modern Library Exploration) by Roland Huntford

Videotapes about Antarctica and antarctic exploration for sale at

South: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition (1919)

Shackleton's Boat Journey - The Story of the James Caird (1999)

Shackleton: Escape from Antarctica (1999)

The Last Place on Earth (1994)

Great Adventurers: Ernest Shackleton - To the End of the Earth (1999)

DVD about Antarctica and antarctic exploration for sale at

South: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition (1919)

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