Moon Preparing to Eclipse Mars: Photos

This morning I got out to take pictures of Mars and the moon in proximity in Taurus.  The shots are very light because it was just before sunrise, and also there is an Airport over the Eastern horizon where I am, which throws a lot of light into the sky.  If I had been able to take pictures 30 minutes earlier, perhaps the image would be sharper, but it was cool to watch in the dawn twilight!  At about 10am the Moon will begin to eclipse Mars, but the sky in North America will be too bright to see it.  However, for those in Honolulu or on a boat in the middle of the North Pacific, the Sun at that moment will not yet be risen, and the eclipse will be visible.  On the other side of the ocean, in Japan and Asia, the horizon will hide the eclipse event, and Mars will rise in front of the Moon, instead of behind like it did here.  JB882JAEFVCR

Mars, Moon, Taurus, Jupiter - 4:43am, July 27, 2011

Moon, Mars in proximity in Taurus: Pictures

Last night I went out with the camera to try and take a picture of Mars and the Moon in proximity, within the constellation Taurus, which at 3:25am would look like this:

3:25am, July 26 2011, Eastern Sky

The moon coming into proximity with Mars in the morning had been on my radar since the Moon last lapped Mars a month ago.  It looked good on Stellarium and I posted about it here, but it was still too close to the horizon and the Sunrise for good pictures.  The Eastern horizon where I am has city lights which dim the stars in that part of the sky.  A month ago the proximity event looked like this: 

4:15am, June 28 2011, Eastern Sky

The moon passes by Mars about once a month as they travel the ecliptic, but sometimes they can't be seen together because it happens in the vicinity of the Sun.  In fact, Mars is only now emerging from behind the Sun after being obscured by it for nearly a year! Last year on this day, Mars was visible in the evening, but each night it inched closer and closer to the spot of the sunset on the horizon until finally, by Summer's end it had slipped under the horizon and behind the Sun for a long sleep.  Now that Mars has emerged at dawn, I was looking forward to getting pictures of it and the moon, which haven't been seen together for over a year!  I went out to a nearby spot where I thought the Eastern horizon would have less light pollution:

Aldebaran, Moon and Taurus rising - click to enlarge

It looked like clouds would ruin the show.  By the time I got set up and took a few pictures, Mars still hadn't shown up and more clouds were blowing in.  I took about 2 dozen photos here, but only a couple turned out any good.  Here is a messy one in which Jupiter is visible in the upper right along with the Moon and the Pleiades:

Jupiter, Moon and Pleiades, 3:30am, July 26, 2011

I gave up on the whole thing and went home.  I worked for a bit, but then noticed the sky had cleared just as dawn was cracking.  I got set up and managed to get the following shot:

Moon, Mars, Aldebaran proximity, 4:25am July 26, 2011 - click to enlarge

This picture turned out quite sharp and revealed a lot of stars, in spite of light pollution and being close to dawn.  But I really could not see the bright red quality of Mars, and in any case, the real proximity event is tonight, when the Moon becomes a thin crescent and bears right down on Mars:

The moon will practically be on top of Mars!  I wonder if it's light will not drown Mars out in any pictures I take?  I hope I can produce better pictures tonight.  It's too bad- the Sun will rise before I'll be able to see the Moon eclipse Mars. People living in Honolulu can see the eclipse just before their sunrise, which is later than here.  Any eclipse is a rare event.  Mars and the Moon will be in proximity once a month for the next many months now.  Also, since Mars has emerged, rising in front of the Sun, it will continue to get brighter and more visible as it moves closer to the earth in its orbit and further from the point of the sunrise, higher into the night sky! 

Photo of Mars, Aldebaran, Alnath in Conjunction

With Stellarium, I was able to see last night that around 4am Mars would rise in conjunction with Alnath of Auriga and Aldebaran of Taurus.  I was able to find a vantage point which allowed a decent shot of these objects, in spite of the streetlamp which in the dawn twilight and a long exposure seems bright enough to be the sun itself.  The lamp certainly drowned out some of their brilliance; Mars and Aldebaran were sparkling and colorful as usual, though they appear muted in the photo.  The Pleiades, Capella and even other dimmer stars from Auriga are visible in the picture, which I did not expect.  After initial difficulties, I am fairly impressed with what my camera is picking up!  Now that I have figured out how to take better pictures at night, I will have to search out a vantage point for the eastern horizon with less light pollution!

Alnath, Mars and Aldebaran - click photo to enlarge

Mars in Taurus and by Auriga

This morning before sunrise at 4:15am, Mars and Taurus will have risen in the Eastern sky.  The Pleiades, forming one of the hooves of Taurus, will be almost directly East and at about the same height as Capella of Auriga.  Aldebaran, the eye of the bull–and one of my favourite stars–will be lined up nicely with Mars and Alnath of Capella, forming another horizontal line in the sky.  Along the ecliptic, Jupiter will be visible in the South-East sky, and the Moon will be setting in the West.