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! 

Libra, Scorpius, Antares in the South: Photos

Last night, well after sunset, I went out with my camera to find Scorpio conveniently hanging in a dip in the horizon.  The best photo from the set shows not only Scorpio but parts of Libra and Ophiucus, and almost looks like a daytime shot:

Scorpius - click photos to enlarge

I was pretty impressed to see so many stars in the picture which I could not see with the naked eye, such as Sabik and others from Ophiucus and Zubeneschamali and others from Libra poking out of the clouds.  Scorpius's stars, including the 15th brightest of all, Antares; as well as Alniyat, Acrab, Dschubba, and a host of others, appear very sharp and brilliant in the sky, which the camera rendered blue after 8 seconds of exposure.

Antares is distinctly brighter than the other stars in Scorpius, however, the following clip from a picture I took later showing "the claw of Scorpio" better reveals the relative brightness and colors of Antares and the other stars.  The star and constellation were mythologically and astrologically associated with Mars because of the similar red coloring of Mars and Antares:

Claw of Scorpio

The claw of Scorpio will continue to dominate the Southern sky after sunset in the Northern Hemisphere for several more weeks, before it goes into hiding under the horizon for the winter.

Arcturus, Boötes Constellation Photo

Last night I went out on what I thought would be a clear night.  Perhaps 11pm is too early where I was.  I guess with a lot of humidity and light pollution or something somehow there was only one part of the sky that really looked good.  That was in the area of Arcturus the "Bear Guard", and the constellation Boötes.  Below the following Stellarium representation is the best picture I produced.  I was quite surprised to see more stars in the picture than I could with the naked eye!

click photo to enlarge

Alkaid can be seen to the right in this picture.  Alkaid is the final star of the Big Dipper leading Bootes on its journey through the sky.  Also visible is the constellation Corona Borealis and its brightest star Alphekka, and the triangular head of Serpens.

Pictures!

Finally last night I managed to get some pictures!  Between waiting for clear skies, finding good vantage points and figuring out how to take good pictures at night with a digital camera, it's been hard going!  I went out at about 3:45am, and took some pictures on different settings.  I have found with a bit of practice in the house when it's dark, that the best way to take pictures of scenery, especially at night, you need to keep the aperture small for good sharpness, and adjust the shutter-speed depending on how dark it is.  The pictures that came out best for me last night I took at about 1-4 seconds shutter speed.  The following two are of the moon, the first reveals how black it is outside, and the second shows just how well my camera can see in the dark when the shutter speed is slowed:

Saturn *Almost Eclipses Porrima

Last night was a miss because of weather.  Tonight I'll be heading out a little bit after sunset at 10:15pm, to see Saturn eclipsing Porrima of Virgo in the Southwest sky, forming a super-bright point of light.  West of there, Leo will be chasing the place of the sunset.

Weather permitting, I will then at midnight ride out to a nearby hill with a good view where the Southern skyline is relatively low.  The claw of Scorpius, made up of Antares, a flickering burning orange star and its 3 accompanying stars, reaches up into the Southern sky and is one of the most distinguishable groups of stars in the Summer here.  However, this far North in the world, the lower half of the constellation usually never breaks the horizon.  I hope that the weather will be clear and that my vantage point will be good enough so that I can at least see the Scorpion’s tail, Shaula, which is the 25^th brightest star and which I’ve never seen.  Nearby will be Kaus Australis of Sagittarius, also which I’ve never seen and never rises very high here.  We’ll have to wait and see if weather and the landscape permit a good show!