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! 

Twilight Moonrise

Just after sunset yesterday the Full moon rose on the Eastern horizon just as the Sun set in the West.  I snapped a few pictures to continue practicing landscape photography in poor light.  By slowing the shutter speed and keeping the aperture small, pictures at night come out brighter, with more scenery, but detail in bright objects like the moon is lost:

By increasing shutter speed, the scenery becomes dark and without contrast, but well lit objects like the moon gain some definition, as in the following picture:

 Also, by watching the clock, I was able to tell how high the horizon was in the area I took the picture by cross referencing Stellarium.  These pictures were taken at 9:17pm on July 15, and here is what Stellarium shows for that time:

Stellarium shows that the Moon at that time was less than 5 azimuthal degrees.  My Stellarium is set having Ottawa as the vantage point, and since I was a bit South of Ottawa, the moon would have appeared from where I was as slightly higher on the azimuthal axis than what Stellarium shows... However, I was also West of Ottawa, away from the spot of the Moonrise in the East, and therefore that would cause the Moon to be lower on the azimuthal axis than what Stellarium shows.  So I`m pretty sure it balances out, and now I know that if anything is risen 5 degrees or more, I should be able to find it if I get into to open space.

Moon in Virgo with Saturn Conjunction

Wedensday, July 6, South-Western Sky 10:10pm

This week, the Moon will pass by Saturn, Corvus and Virgo as it continues along its 4 week journey around the ecliptic.  After sunset, the bright side of the moon will face the area of the sunset in the Western sky, and viewing will be best just after 10pm. 

Thursday, July 7, South-Western Sky 10:10pm

The closest conjunction will be tomorrow, July 7^th, When the Moon passes through the space between Saturn, Spica of Virgo, and the constellation Corvus. 

Friday, July 8, South-Western Sky 10:10pm

If weather ruins the conjunction on July 7^th, the next night the moon will have moved further along, but it will still be in close conjunction with Spica.  Antares of Scorpius will be at its highest point in the South, off to the left.