Tag: Venus

Three Planets and the Moon

A few days ago the waxing crescent Moon joined the planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars in the evening sky. A few clouds and the reflection of the evening sky in the lake added a bit of color to the scene.

Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Moon in the evening sky.
Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Moon in the evening sky.
Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Moon in the evening sky (with labels).
Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Moon in the evening sky (with labels).
Screen capture from Stellarium.app showing the positions of the planets and Moon in the evening sky.
Screen capture from Stellarium.app showing the positions of the planets and Moon in the evening sky.

Afterwards, I stayed around to watch the rocket launch described in the previous post.

Venus and Mercury in the Evening Sky

Venus and the Pleiades star cluster are prominent in the center of the image while Mercury is about to set in the low gap. The zodiacal light is also faintly visible.

Upper Lake Mary, Flagstaff, Arizona; 10 April 2023.

Venus, Mercury, Pleiades, and Zodiacal light all reflected in Lake Mary.
Venus, Mercury, Pleiades, and Zodiacal light all reflected in Lake Mary.

Next week the crescent Moon will join the group.

Objects in the Evening Sky––March 2023

There have been multiple opportunities to photograph planets and other objects in the evening sky during the month of March. Previously I posted photos of four planets and an asteroid in the western sky during twilight using a 24mm wide angle lens.

Orion Nebula (M42).
Orion Nebula (M42).

I tried to capture the four planets again later in the month but was foiled by the bright twilight making it difficult to see the planets that were close to the horizon. So I shifted my strategy and chose to capture just two planets–Venus and Uranus–that were close to each other and high enough above the horizon to not be troubled by twilight. These images were shot with my Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E lens.

Venus and Uranus in the evening sky (28 March 2023).
Venus and Uranus in the evening sky (28 March 2023).

I then turned the camera on the Orion Nebula (M42) to see how well this lens would work on long exposures. The results weren’t too bad–but not great. It will take some practice on my part to get sharp focus and reduce shake and vibration on the tripod and star tracker.

Planets in the Evening Sky

The evening sky has provided opportunities in February and early March to view several planets grouped together. In mid February there was an alignment of four planets and one asteroid: Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Vesta. Only two of these were visible with the unaided eye but even a short exposure on a camera showed the other three objects. Okay…some of them were still hard to see.

The evening sky with four planets and an asteroid: Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Vesta (19 February 2023).
The evening sky with four planets and an asteroid: Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Vesta (19 February 2023).
Zodiacal Light and airglow.
Zodiacal Light and airglow.

A short time later the Zodiacal Light became prominent along with some faint airglow bands near the horizon.

Venus and Jupiter in the evening twilight sky.
Venus and Jupiter in the evening twilight sky.
Venus and Jupiter in the evening twilight sky. A waxing Moon illuminated both the foreground meadow and the peaks in the distance.
Venus and Jupiter in the evening twilight sky. A waxing Moon illuminated both the foreground meadow and the peaks in the distance.

In early March the planets Venus and Jupiter were very near each other in the evening sky. Cloudy skies prevented me from getting photographs at their closest approach but a few days later I was able to capture these images from Bonito Park near Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.

 

 

Four Planets and the Crescent Moon in the Morning Sky

There are currently four planets easily visible in the morning sky: Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn. Prevously they had been fairly evenly spaced and in a line sloping upward from the east to southeast. Now, however, Venus is quickly moving lower in the sky towards Jupiter and they will pass by each other in a few days. In the meantime, the crescent Moon joined the planetary quartet this week.

Four planets and the Moon (0453 MST 28 April 2022).
Four planets and the Moon (0453 MST 28 April 2022).
Four planets and the Moon with annotations (0453 MST 28 April 2022).
Four planets and the Moon with annotations (0453 MST 28 April 2022).
Screen shot from Stellarium showing the four planets and the FOV from a 24mm lens.
Screen shot from Stellarium showing the four planets and the FOV from a 24mm lens.

Here is an image from 0453 MST 28 April 2022. The Moon was partially obscured by smoke low on the horizon from western wildfires. Also shown is a screen shot from Stellarium showing the four planets and Moon with an overlay of the field of view from a 24mm lens.