Mercury, Moon, and Mini-prop
Lincoln, Nebraska
In this photo Mercury is the star near the top margin of the photo. If you zoom in, the airplane looks like it might be a Cessna?
I went out on this night to see the planets - all of them! All were supposed to be visible in the early evening sky. This is an unusual event for which I was a few days late. The planets were in clusters. Near the horizon were Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, and, of course, our planet. Overhead was Jupiter, Mars and Uranus. I was a few days late because of the cluster on the horizon. If I had been a few days earlier everything would have been higher in the sky and so less affected by the setting sun. By the time it was dark enough to see Mercury, Saturn had dipped below the horizon and I never saw it at all. Neptune was above Mercury and I knew I would need a really clear and a truly dark sky to see it which I didn't have and so I never saw it either. Venus, because it is between us and the sun, has phases like the moon. Zooming in on the camera screen I could see that Venus was just half a circle. Jupiter and Mars were easy to spot but Uranus was another matter. I was not able to spot it though I knew where to look. Again, a couple hours later would have helped. On another evening I might have waited but it was just above freezing with a stiff breeze and I wasn't dressed nearly warm enough.
Shot with OM System OM-1 and Olympus 300mm f4.
Mercury, Moon, and Mini-prop
Lincoln, Nebraska
In this photo Mercury is the star near the top margin of the photo. If you zoom in, the airplane looks like it might be a Cessna?
I went out on this night to see the planets - all of them! All were supposed to be visible in the early evening sky. This is an unusual event for which I was a few days late. The planets were in clusters. Near the horizon were Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, and, of course, our planet. Overhead was Jupiter, Mars and Uranus. I was a few days late because of the cluster on the horizon. If I had been a few days earlier everything would have been higher in the sky and so less affected by the setting sun. By the time it was dark enough to see Mercury, Saturn had dipped below the horizon and I never saw it at all. Neptune was above Mercury and I knew I would need a really clear and a truly dark sky to see it which I didn't have and so I never saw it either. Venus, because it is between us and the sun, has phases like the moon. Zooming in on the camera screen I could see that Venus was just half a circle. Jupiter and Mars were easy to spot but Uranus was another matter. I was not able to spot it though I knew where to look. Again, a couple hours later would have helped. On another evening I might have waited but it was just above freezing with a stiff breeze and I wasn't dressed nearly warm enough.
Shot with OM System OM-1 and Olympus 300mm f4.