Venus occultation

[braeside]

I knew that there was a conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Venus and the Moon today, but had not paid close attention to the fact that we were getting an occultation of Venus by the Moon. I glanced out of my window at dusk and spotted the bright Venus right up against the dark limb of the Moon, looked away to check the time and by the time I looked up again, she was gone! I then had plenty of time to set up the camera and prepare for the re-appearance over an hour later. Clouds were bad at times and the Moon is quite low amongst the pollution, but despite that it was a great sight. My wife spotted it as she drove home from work.

As Venus re-appears:
BTW my camera clock was 22 seconds fast - so the EXIF time is wrong, the reappearance of Venus was at 17:09:24 UTC here. (I took a photo of my MSF clock later to get the clock time offset).


SAL70300G A900 Blue filter Monochrome treatment applied in Aperture to get rid of cloud scattered light.

Later on:

[aster]

Nothing to match the astronomical beauty and clearance of your photos David,

But I came to be aware of this scene while looking for something else in the region and CZ 16-80mm was on the camera. Here's how I captured the striking brightness of the universal bodies in Istanbul. (don't mind the chimneys and the sattelite dishes please)

Yildiz

[braeside]

Yildiz, that is a beautiful shot, complete with Earthshine on the Moon." The Old Moon in New Moon's Arms" as they say here.
Another shot from tonight in colour:

[aster]

Thanks David,

Very kind of you.
It's amazing how the moon surface show some good details in your shots. The Sony 70300 G isn't bad at all for astronomy! Mine were taken with no filtres on the lens, therefore lack the distictive clarity of your photos. But I'm glad I still caught this phenomenon on time by being there and pushed the boundaries of the CZ 16-80mm a little too.

Yildiz

[braeside]

Just to clarify what I said about filtering Yariz, I did not use a blue filter on the lens, it was a Post Processing software effect that I used to simulate a blue filter , which helped remove most of the glare in the clouds that was in the orange part of the spectrum. I did have a standard UV filter on the lens.

This is the first time I have tried the A900/70-300G on astronomy and I am pleased with the results. Needed manual exposure to avoid burn out of the moon against the sky and 2 second timer to avoid vibration.

[aster]

Just to clarify what I said about filtering Yariz, I did not use a blue filter on the lens, it was a Post Processing software effect that I used to simulate a blue filter , which helped remove most of the glare in the clouds that was in the orange part of the spectrum. I did have a standard UV filter on the lens.

This is the first time I have tried the A900/70-300G on astronomy and I am pleased with the results. Needed manual exposure to avoid burn out of the moon against the sky and 2 second timer to avoid vibration.

Oh, I see! Contrary to majority of photographers, I don't like using filters much. I buy them everytime to protect the lens and to use when necessary but in the end they always sit in their leather pouches or boxes. I like seeing what the lens can achieve on its own; with its native coating, surface shape and optics. I'm always watching out for the lens itself, so have no scratches on any of them. But I should seriously try to make it part of my shooting habits just in case.

A900/70-300G combination isn't as fearful then. Maybe I shouldn't wait for the release of the 70-400 G SSM for an other couple of months at all. Seems I'm missing on some very interesting zoom-range universal events which otherwise I would have shot and included in my archives like the ones of last night.

Yildiz

[Greg Beetham]

Lovely shots from both of you, David and Yildiz.
Greg
ps love that Venus egress capture.

[Dr. Harout]

I said to my son: look how beautiful it is, I never have seen it this way...
And yet, the camera was with me and I didn't shoot. If I knew...
BTW, I join Greg, David and Yildiz you've done great.

[aster]

Thank you Greg and thank you Dr. Harout,

Dr. Harout, I'd expect a phenomenal shot from you covering this occultation having seen your previous observatory and moon shots! I was silent and waiting, hoping you'd be uploading your version as observed from the skies of Yerevan... Sad that you didn't reach for the camera, but happens sometimes.

Next time then?

Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

Yup, you can count on me. I'll take the shot with the 1100mm f/10.5
Though not a plain glass but not a lens yet, but I'll give it a try.

[aster]

Yup, you can count on me. I'll take the shot with the 1100mm f/10.5
Though not a plain glass but not a lens yet, but I'll give it a try.

Eagerly anticipating then, Doctor!

Thanks,
Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

Next time then?

Just as a curiosity, when is the next time?

[aster]

Just as a curiosity, when is the next time?

There'll be more than enough time to purchase the latest, fastest, best-focusing, futuristic Sony FullFrame and all the fantastic lenses you wished you had once upon a time in the year 2008 Doctor!
The next lunar occultation of Venus is in the next 10 years and you and your son will probably observe it side by side once again.
The exact dates: April 16, 2016
June 19, 2020

But there will be other planet occultations, like that of Jupiter before then. I'm sure there'll be at least one good astronomical phenomen to shoot soon enough though... So watch out for the cloudless dark nights, I'd say....

Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

OK

[bonneville]

I've put it in my diary and I'll be watching too H