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Showing posts from November, 2005

Mars and Venus at the potluck

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This is Venus two nights ago. It's about 40% illuminated these days, and every day that passes it gets slimmer and taller. This was not the first crescent Venus I've seen, but the first I've seen in a telescope, or photographed at all. I got to show it to a whole party of people who came to the roof in the cold; the telescope was a hit as usual. This is Mars a few minutes later. Like Venus, it was photographed at a magnification of 90x. It's actually almost 99% illuminated, since it's at opposition. I'd hoped to get a photo that showed off some surface features, and there are only a few more days before Mars starts to fade and shrink noticeably. I did see some faint brown splotches across the top half of the disk -- which in this visually corrected photo means the bottom half. They were the first I'd ever seen. In the next few days I will try to get a photograph at 180x.

Luna's moon

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The Moon, with Mars to its lower left, last night. This was an hour or two after they passed each other in a very close approach. Clouds have obscured their meeting each of the last few months, so I was very glad to catch this one. In the photo, the bodies are only about two degrees apart. A few minutes earlier. Sometimes clouds produce beautiful effects around the moon, though few are as striking as this one. Mars alone, in Luna's glow.

Planet and plane

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An hour past sunset, two days ago. From our living room window.