Venus, Saturn, and Crescent Moon January 7, 2016

I woke up to a great collection of Venus and Saturn in a fairly close pairing alongside the 7.6% crescent moon on Thursday, January 7, 2016. There wasn't much foreground scenery to speak of - just my neighbor's roofline - but the collection looked cool floating over the houses in the cool morning air. The clear sky was a welcomed sight since we've been having a very rainy winter so far.

Single frame Canon T5i, ISO 1600, 125mm, f/4.5, 2.5 sec

Single frame Canon T5i, ISO 800, 125mm, f/4.5, 2.5 sec

The bright grouping looked like a nice target to try some iPhone photos, so I got out my tripod and adapter and used both the default camera app and Night Cap Pro. Night Cap Pro is great for low light, but the moon and Venus were very bright in this shot. I do like how Night Cap Pro was able to show some scenery with the houses rather than just the moon and Venus.

iPhone 6 photo with Night Cap Pro app, ISO 2000, f/2.2, 4.2mm, 1/2 sec

This is a comparison of the DSLR photo (above) to the iPhone 6 with default camera app (bottom) at f/2.2, 4.2mm, ISO 2000, 1/15 sec showing the crescent moon with earthshine, Saturn, and Venus clearly visible.

Between the two, I like the wider photo with houses for context even though the moon isn't properly exposed and turns into a large white blob. It's kinda cool. It looks like glowing orbs, UFOs, or just a huge star above the house. I try not to post too many photos straight out of the iPhone to Instagram because I know that they're just blobs - I get it - but it's fun to play with and test out what the iPhone camera is capable of without any fancy gadgets or attachments.

Crescent Moon (5%) Setting over Roof with Chimney

I saw the slim crescent moon last night as Chris and I were walking out of O'Charley's (which is a totally great and totally under-rated restaurant by the way). I looked it up on PhotoPills to see what percent illuminated it was, and it was about 5% - so now my slimmest but still worthwhile for a photo.



I made a timelapse of the moon setting behind the roof of my neighbor's house, and also pulled some individual frames out. There was some great earthshine on the dark side of the moon, and I'm glad the chimney across the way provided a little bit of foreground interest.

Single frame Canon T5i, f/9, 1 sec, ISO 1600, 205mm

Single frame Canon T5i, f/10, 1.3 sec, ISO 3200, 300mm

Single frame Canon T5i, f/9, 1.3 sec, ISO 1600, 300mm

My Slimmest Crescent Moon at 2% Illumination

This is my slimmest moon yet, at just 2.1% illuminated. I saw it while pulling out of my driveway on the way to work, and I put the car in park to run back inside and grab my camera. Photos are from the morning of October 22, 2014 at 7:22am. My previous slimmest moon was in February at 3% illuminated. I guess technically an eclipse is about the "newest" a moon can possibly be, but the slimmest crescent is still a fun achievement to track. 

Single frame Canon T5i, ISO 100, 300mm, f/5.6, 1 sec

Single frame with Canon T5i, ISO 100, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/10 sec

Single frame with Canon T5i, ISO 100, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/3 sec

Single frame with Canon T5i, ISO 100, 120mm, f/5.6, 1.3 sec

Crescent Moonset Over Pyramid, September 26, 2014

Ok, I didn't expect to fool anyone - this isn't a pyramid in Egypt, it's my neighbor's roof - but if you tilt the photo sideways and crop it just right it could pass as a pyramid, right?

Single frame with Canon T5i auto enhanced in iPhoto, ISO 200, 300mm, f/5.6, 1 sec

Single frame with Canon T5i auto enhanced in iPhoto, ISO 200, 300mm, f/5.6, 1 sec

This is an uncropped photo showing the moon setting in the "sweet spot" between the roofline in my development. I actually really like this photo!! You can even see the top of the silo across the street. I love that you can just barely see this bizarre object among the rooftops, it makes me feel less boxed in by houses knowing that I can see something on the "outside."

Single frame with Canon T5i, ISO 200, 300mm, f/5.6, 1 sec

I moved the tripod back and forth until I got the shot lined up just right showing the crescent moon cradled by the roof and tree. 

3% Crescent Moon with Earthshine, September 22, 2014

Chris called me on his way to work this morning and told me I better get dressed and come outside to see the slim crescent moon rising over the neighborhood with beautiful earthshine lighting up the darker side.

Stack of 15 frames in Registax, taken with Canon T5i

Moon stacking is back! Courtesy of Lightroom 5 which lets me export TIFs in the right format. I never figured it out in iPhoto after messing with it. My Canon T5i doesn't work with Adobe Camera Raw for some reason so my whole workflow got messed up. But it looks like my Lightroom workflow is working and doesn't take as much time as I thought.

Single frame with Canon T5i, f/7.1, 1.6 sec, ISO 800, 160mm

Single frame with Canon T5i, fluorescent WB, f/5.6, 1.3 sec, ISO 800, 75mm, cropped

I think this earthshine beats out my first earthshine photo, but it's not as good as the earthshine stack I did in March 2013 with a darker sky in the background.

Crescent Moon and Venus Rising at Dawn April 26, 2014

The 9% crescent moon rose alongside Venus this morning a little after 5:00am. The pair were about 8° apart, making it sort of a conjunction, not spectacular, but something interesting to look at on the weekend! Yes, waking up at 5am to take the dog out, seeing that the moon will rise in 5 minutes, and staying up to photograph it and then blog about it are my ideas of fun on the weekend.

Single frame at f/6.3, 2 sec, ISO 800, 85mm white balance in Photoshop

Single frame at f/7.1, 1.3 sec, ISO 1600, 300mm white balance in Photoshop

Single frame at f/6.3, 1.3 sec, ISO 800, 300mm

Single frame at f/5.6, 1 sec, ISO 1600, 300mm original color

Single frame at f/5.6, 1 sec, ISO 1600, 300mm white balance in Photoshop

Single frame at f/9, 1.3 sec, ISO 800, 300mm, contrast in Photoshop

Single frame at f/9, 1.3 sec, ISO 800, 75mm original color

It was a major pain in the butt shooting toward oncoming traffic, and toward so many lights from my apartment complex and the warehouse across the street. The warehouse just recently added even more lights to their parking lot that sits empty all night.

Earthshine 12% Crescent Moon with Venus Conjunction, February 26, 2014

Earthshine on a crescent moon is probably my favorite thing ever, and my partner Chris knows this - that's why he called me at 6:00am on his way to work to tell me about the "crescent moon with earthshine a few feet away from the planet Venus." I swear he's learning so much just by listening to me ramble.

I was super curious what he meant by "a few feet" so I decided to take Katie outside and check it out for myself. Boy was he right! There, just above a tree, was the waning 12% crescent moon about 5° from Venus. I used my fist at arms length (which approximates 10°) and decided that it was about half that distance. Looking it up on Stellarium, it's actually a bit closer, more like 4°39' separation. Very cool!

Single exposure with white balance taken at 1.6 sec, ISO 800, 75mm, f/5.0

Single exposure with white balance taken at 1.6 sec, ISO 800, 180mm, f/5.6

If it weren't 7°F and windy, I would probably have stayed out to watch the full sunrise with Mercury peeking above the horizon just before the sun. Because of the wind, I've learned to take a lot of frames each at the same settings. This lighter weight T5i camera is easy on the wrists for handheld shooting, but doesn't stay put in a breeze.

Here are some additional exposures of the conjunction.

Single exposure at 1.6 sec, ISO 200, 180mm, f/5.6

Single exposure at 1.6 sec, ISO 100, 180mm, f/5.6

Single exposure at 1/60 sec, ISO 100, 180mm, f/5.6

Single frame at 1.6 sec, ISO 200, 75mm, f/5.0

Crescent Moonrise in Conjunction with Dabih (Beta Capricorni)

I was taking my dog out at 5:50am this morning and noticed a slim crescent moon rising over the apartment buildings next door. What luck! Another example of how owning a dog is good news for skywatching because it gets you outside every couple hours or so.

I didn't notice it at fist, but the moon was right next to a star in the twilight sky (more apparent in the longer exposures). I looked it up using Stellarium, and it appears to be Beta Capricorni, traditionally known as Dabih "the butcher." (Every time I say that I think of Dobby the house elf).

I shot a variety of exposures, and stacked the moon twice in Registax. Here are my best shots with acquisition details:

2 sec, ISO 200, f/4.5, 75mm, 6:02am facing SE

21 subs stacked in Registax, each ISO 200, 1/250 sec, 300mm, f/5.6

21 subs stacked in Registax, each ISO 200, 1 sec, 300mm, f/5.6

Earthshine on the crescent moon

I've been wanting to take a photo of earthshine for a long time, and tonight was my first chance! Earthshine is light from the sun reflecting off the Earth to light up the part of the moon not lit directly by the sun. Sun > Earth > Moon > Earth > Camera.

"Earthshine can be best seen during the crescent phases (the 1-5 day period before or after a New Moon). During this time the sun is mostly behind the moon from our perspective and bathing the Earth in a lot of direct light that is reflected onto the shadowed parts of the moon." (Source)

It stands to reason that other conditions can increase the amount of earthshine on the moon, such as snow cover, reflective clouds, or maybe even the Atlantic Ocean.