Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Awesome Moon and Venus View This Morning

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Did you happen to catch the view of the crescent Moon and crescent Venus this morning? Ted Judah from Petaluma, California did, and what an incredible shot this is! Ted used a Canon 30d attached to an Orion 100mm aperture refractor, making it essentially a 900mm f/9 lens. Ted said this is about a 1 second exposure at 200 ISO speed. Click on the image (and then again) to see a larger version of this great image.

The duo should also be visible during the day today — just look around for the crescent Moon, and scan the sky around it for Venus. Venus is usually visible in broad daylight, but the trick is knowing where to look for it. Today, just look for the moon!

Thanks Ted, for sharing your photo. If anyone else was able to nab a photo of the Moon and Venus and would like to share it, either post a link in the comments below, or insert it the comments, or send it to me.

Update:
Here’s another image sent in by Bob Bowhay, who took the picture from west central Alberta, Canada at 5:53 AM. “Sorry about the electric power lines,” Bob said. That’s just fine, Bob — this is a great picture! Notice how a crater is visible right near the terminator.

The Moon and Venus (and power lines). Credit: Bob Bowhay
The Moon and Venus (and power lines). Credit: Bob Bowhay

10 Replies to “Awesome Moon and Venus View This Morning”

  1. Nice pic. The two closest natural celestial bodies make quite a show. But what’s that dot above the Venus crescent? Can it be a background star? Wouldn’t background stars be too faint to appear in a photo like this?

  2. @Jorge:
    checking it out in my image editing program:
    It seems the Venus is partially obscured by the Moon – what looks like a separate dot is probably part of the image of Venus, with the “missing bit” having slipped behind the Moon.

  3. The dot above Venus was actually… Venus.

    The very tip of the crescent, just as it came into view. The rest of Venus was still hidden behind the moon at this moment.

    There actually was a star in this field of view but did not show up under these exposure settings.

  5. I am interested in how, exactly, Ted attached his 30d to his 100mm refractor because I have a 30d AND a 100mm refractor and have always wanted to do the same thing. thx F

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