A snap of the Moon

Kavita has a basic telescope and the sky was so clear, and the planets in view looking so beautiful, I decided to  set it up. It is only a basic 60mm/2inch refractor with no auto guidance or Goto, but beggars can't be choosers. I set it up and tried some observations from the main bedroom window - this was because outside it was about -4 and getting colder. But the double glazing was causing a problem so....I had to wrap up warm and brace for the cold.

I took the refractor outside and even though there is a massive glaring street light outside our house, the moon, Jupiter and Venus stood out. First was Venus, very bright and obviously round, but the telescope isn't fantastic so the image was basic but fair. Next was Jupiter - this was more spectacular - braving the cold, uncomfortable position, freezing steps outside the house and the street light, all in the name of Science! I could see easily the two main equatorial belts as two mid grey lines across the planets face and three of the four Galilean Moons - Io, Europa and Ganymede. Amazing!

Then I pointed the scope up and looked upon the face of the Moon - a breathtaking view which I'd not seen for so long. Using my trusty phone camera, I took a snap of the surface of the Moon - fairly impressed at the result.

A section of the Moon on the terminator

Beautiful shot of Moon, Jupiter and Earth's twin Venus

Every night when I walk out of work, I stare up at the impressive sky and sometimes stop in wonder. In the winter months, the skies are very clear and tonight was the same as every night so far. The Moon was very clear, Jupiter was just south of it and bright Venus lower to the horizon. So I had to take some snaps - using my trusty Galaxy S2 phone camera, I took a load of wide angle shots.

Moon, Jupiter and Venus in sequence

Moon and Jupiter

Earth's distant twin - Venus

A snap of Venus! On a mobile phone!

Coming home the other night I noticed how clear the sky was, beautifully clear - the Moon was hanging high and Venus was very close. Sitting there just very bright, clear and un-twinkling - so I thought I'd take a photo. Using just my Samsung Galaxy S2 mobile phone camera, ISO800, maximum 8mp setting and using a fence to balance on, I take a snap of the moon with Venus. Very nice picture of the two together. 

But then using Photoshop, I zoomed in on the huge picture and was surprised to see this

Venus!

A clear round ball shape of a planet! There is even a hint of a crescent on the right - Venus is so bright because it reflects virtually all of the sunlight it receives from the Sun. But even I was amazed by this shot!