Stars and Planets

Recently Mars and Uranus were "close" in the sky and I managed to get a shot.  It is great when a planet as easy to find as Mars, can act as a "landmark" to find another.

The other pair of photos is of the bright star Aldebaran with its accompanying star cluster called The Hyades.  I have identified the brightest stars of the Hyades with the letter "H".

Sky Watching

A recent quest of mine was to find the Big Dipper.  I associate it with my childhood when I could go out any clear night and find it easily.  These days with more lights (including powerful security lights) installed in the neighbourhood, I wasn't very hopeful.  However, with the use of a wonderful app called "Stellarium", I found it directly overhead and also found a nook between two buildings which blocked most incidental light so that I could get a good look at it and photograph it.  

Here is a photo "as is" and then the same image but with the names of the major stars added.  You will need to enlarge the images to get a better look (click on the image).

I also wanted to capture Venus and several accompanying stars and the moon (below).  The moon was a crescent but I wasn't able to reduce the exposure to show that without losing all the other celestial bodies.  You will definitely need to enlarge/expand this photo!

Now here is the crescent moon as I love it!  I find it such a beautiful phase of the moon.

And, lastly, here is the Flower Moon supermoon.  The exposure is not what I was going for but somehow I like the final result.

Venus and the Pleiades

April 3, 2020

I recently found out that during this first week of April, the planet Venus can be seen in "close proximity" to the star cluster known as The Pleiades (or Seven Sisters). I was lucky enough to get two nights when the clouds parted so that I could photograph them.  You will see how Venus "moves past" the cluster.

I did not use a tripod so the images are not the best but I was very excited to see The Pleiades as I had never seen them before, and in a city environment with lots of light, it was great to have Venus to guide me to them.

You can check out this article to see others' photos and learn more about these celestial bodies.

April 4, 2020