Planet Scenes 2013
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Sun with Sunspots, Dec 1 and 15 The Sun is heading toward solar maximum in 2014, so it is already quite active with sunspots and other phenomena. Here we have two views of our star, the first from December 1 through a Celestron C8 with telecompressor yielding 1,000 mm focal length, and the second view on December 15 with a 100 mm f/6 achromat refractor operating at a focal length of 600 mm. |
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Partial Solar Eclipse, Nov 3 A very slight partial solar eclipse could be seen from the eastern United States on the morning of November 3, 2013. I observed the event and got a few pictures from a wide open field along route 3 east of Fredericksburg, Virginia. |
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Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, May 26 May 2013 offered a very nice and close trio of planets, a grouping of Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury low in the evening sky. This image was acquired near Minden, West Virginia on a trip our family took for some white water rafting and ziplining, both very fun!! |
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Moon and Comet PanSTARRS, March 13 I decided to try out my Nikon D40 with an old Sigma 400 mm reflex lens I've had since the mid-1980's and it worked quite well on the crescent Moon. The earthshine is nicely rendered, with good detail in the mare and craters. Also in the evening sky was the very nice Comet PanSTARRS, which at the time of this image was in Pisces. For some reason, maybe weather, I got pictures of the Moon and the comet, but not both! |
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Venus & Moon, January 10 In the early part of 2013, Venus is finishing its great morning apparition from the second half of 2012, so for the first few months of 2013, it will get lower in the morning sky until it undergoes superior conjunction on March 28. Here we see the brightest planet making a nice pairing with the waning crescent Moon. |
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