P. Sisto Images

Those of you who have followed my work here for some time know that I'm incredibly interested in space. You've also seen photos of my small but mighty collection of actual space rocks...meteorites. A bit over a month ago, a bit of space came crashing to Earth right here in northeast Ohio...

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On the morning of March 17, I was taking a load of boxes to the post office near my home in Bay Village, Ohio. As I pulled into the parking lot, a loud bang caught my attention and had me wondering if something had fallen over in the bed of my truck. Noticing nothing awry, I went on about my day.

As I returned home to get ready for work, notifications started popping on my phone. I saw the first video widely circulated of a majestic daytime fireball with fragmentation, captured from the Olmsted Falls City School District’s bus garage. Someone claiming to be a local commented immediately that this camera was facing north; clearly any resulting stones had dropped into Lake Erie or Canada. I checked the Google Maps satellite view to see that the opposite was true! This fireball was headed essentially due south from Olmsted Falls.

Searching more intently, another video was posted from a salvage business in Elyria. Here the fireball moved left to right through the frame...clearly it was east of Elyria, possibly even passing over my home in Bay! A further video taken from Broadview Heights showed right to left motion in a shorter path. Now we had triangulation! Messaging back and forth with a couple acquaintances who are experts in the meteorite field, I sent a screenshot showing my surmise that if anything fell, I bet it would be in Medina.

Sure enough, around 11AM the preliminary radar signatures began to circulate. I was in the River Styx area that evening, probably the first person actively searching for rocks on the ground.

My technique was obviously flawed. I tried driving everywhere I could access, searching for “smashers” on pavement and sidewalks. I’m guessing that -- if I had hopped out of my vehicle and started on foot at any point that day -- I might have come up with something.

March 18 dawned. I was back in the strewnfield, expanding my search. Walking a few locations. No plan other than to cover ground and figure out what publicly accessible spots could be searched among the huge maze of private property. As evening fell, I was exchanging texts with a couple close friends (who knew I’m a meteorite collector, and who I’d also tipped off about the fact that this was actually a meteorite FALL). I get a text from one, who has at this point located possibly the most iconic specimen from this fall (check Gabe Leidy Photography's feed if you'd like to see!), merely 15 minutes away from where I was looking. He and I walked until it was dark, searching for other stones in the vicinity of the masterpiece he’d discovered.

One more trip to Sharon Center the next evening after work, where I watched as my hunting partner picked up two more stones mere feet away from me! My time in the strewnfield was done. I had to return to work and then left town on a photography trip for 9 days. Empty handed! Of a long wished-for meteorite fall nearly in my own backyard! We all know how it went from there. Loads of new hunters got their first finds. Many experienced people found stones. Some made big sales. A few trespassed a little. Media attention. The whole 9 yards. And: it turns out, this is not just the first recovered Ohio meteorite fall since New Concord in 1860...it’s INCREDIBLE material. Outrageously aesthetic. An achondrite with features almost never seen before.

When I got back to town, I of course kept looking. Well over a 100 hours spent right where I should be, in a variety of locations stretching from Young’s Corners in the north, down SR 94 to Wadsworth and points west. But...nothing to come of it.

Now: it will never be (alas, I can only imagine) as gratifying and cathartic as picking a piece of space off the ground of my own home state, but thanks to the hard work of a local I've known through the meteorite community for some time, I’ve finally got my very own specimens of Windfall, Ohio (prov.) They’re minuscule, and they weren't cheap, but they’re awe-inspiring.

Sorry for the long read. This one means the world to me. Hope you all enjoy the photos.

I've wanted to photograph the Milky Way above the world's most iconic arch since the very beginning of my journey into night photography. There are a variety of different "looks" possible at this location as the season goes on and the arch of the Milky Way galaxy becomes more vertical. I love this particular March / pre-dawn perspective because it does the best job of capturing the remarkable natural amphitheater visitors get to experience when seeing Delicate Arch. The steep hike in the dark with 40 pounds of camera, lenses, and tracking gear was no joke!

Many of you may not be aware, but my "day job" outside of photography is teaching at an English/Spanish dual language K-8 school on the near west side of Cleveland, Ohio. The vast majority of our students come from Puerto Rico directly, or via their families.

The leadup to last night's historic Spanish language Super Bowl halftime performance by Boricua icon Bad Bunny was frankly electric among my classes of 7th and 8th graders. The excitement and pride these kids felt knowing that one of their own and an incredible ambassador for the island was taking on the biggest stage possible was really touching.

And then…he absolutely slayed the performance. The affirmation, joy, love, celebration of his and our culture as Americans. Beautiful to behold. The hallways here at school have been buzzing all morning. Kids standing just a little taller. Words echoing in their ears: "Vales más de lo que piensas."
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I had the privilege of traveling to P.R. with a group of these same students almost a year ago now. Spotted this view while working in the beautiful city of Juana Diaz, and it felt appropriate today of all days to post it up. 🇵🇷

My first ever attempt at a "deepscape" photo utilizing the telescope domes at McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains of west Texas. Given the arid climate and nearly 7,000 foot elevation, this location provides one of the clearest views of the night sky you can get in the lower 48. I tracked the stars at about an 80mm focal length which really brought out some breathtaking details and colorful nebulosity, even in a single exposure!