Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Apparent Disk of Venus with Chromatic Aberration

Here is my photo next to a visualization of Venus at its current phase. Just like our moon, the inner planets* have phases based on their position relative to the Sun. As the light bends through the lens of my telescope, the different wavelengths of light are not converging at the same point, which causes the annoying smeared halo of colors on the edge of my image.

Apparent Disk of Venus with Chromatic Aberration
My image (right) at prime focus through Meade 285 cropped and enlarged in Photoshop
*From Earth, Venus can appear gibbous, quarter, or crescent (but never "full" because it would be on the other side of the Sun). Mars can be full or slightly gibbous, but doesn't display a wide range of phases. Planets further out don't change much at all.

Canon at prime focus on 60mm refractor
Canon at prime focus on 60mm refractor, grainy Instagram filter

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