Venus, Saturn, Neptune

With the Moon gone, Venus is once again the brightest object in the evening sky, shining at magnitude -4.5.  It is now a fat crescent and will get slimmer as it approaches peak brightness in a couple weeks.  While setting behind the Bristol Head ridgeline, it is bright enough to illuminate the trees in front of it.

The following images were obtained with a Sightron infini D50 refractor and a 1.5x MDB (effective focal length 905 mm).

Venus setting behind Bristol Head

illuminated trees

crescent Venus, 1/1000 s, ISO 1600

 It is hard to get a sharp image of the planet with just a single exposure like this because of atmospheric effects, especially when it is so low in elevation.  The standard practice is to take tens, hundreds, or even thousands of images (in video format), then select and stack the sharpest fraction of video frames to produce a final image.  

  Astronomical twilight ends shortly after 9 pm (MDT) and the moonless sky is dark enough again to photograph constellations.  The following images were obtained with a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens.  Sky brightness was a modest 21.38 mpsas.

Cassiopeia and the Double Cluster (lower middle). Softon filter.

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the Triangulum Galaxy (M33). Softon.

M31 (top) and M33 (bottom)

 The image above was obtained with no optical filter, but a low-pass digital filter (3x3 median) was applied in post-processing.  M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy, is the largest member of our Local Group of galaxies.  M33, the Triangulum Galaxy (also sometimes called the Pinwheel Galaxy), is the third largest member after our own Milky Way Galaxy.  It is about 2/3 the size of our galaxy.

M33 is right on the verge of naked-eye visibility from an exceptionally dark site with good eyes. At a distance of 2.9 million light-years (Mly), it is likely the farthest object that can be seen without optical aid.

 The planet Saturn is currently on the boundary line between the constellations Pisces and Cetus.  It is rising above the ridgeline of Snowshoe mountain in the late evening.

Saturn (LL), Neptune (circled) and the Circlet of Pisces (upper right)

 The Circlet of Pisces is an asterism formed by a ring of seven stars in the constellation Pisces.  The planet Neptune currently shines at magnitude 7.8.  This puts it within the range of binoculars when aided by a good star chart.