Planets: Jupiter, Venus
Constellations: Draco, Ophiuchus, Scorpius
Asterism: Big Dipper
Stars Identified: Alniyat, Antares, Castor, Dubhe, Dschubba, Graffias, Fang, Jabba, Merak, Mizar-Alcor, Omega 1 & 2, Paikauhale, Pollux
Stars Identified: Alniyat, Antares, Castor, Dubhe, Dschubba, Graffias, Fang, Jabba, Merak, Mizar-Alcor, Omega 1 & 2, Paikauhale, Pollux
Last evening, I was watering our front yard flower gardens - first time ever I did this late enough for the street lights to come on. It was such a glorious evening - no wind, no clouds (but there was high haze), and it was very quiet. The usual street traffic noise wasn't noticed or perhaps there was no traffic. Either way, there was nothing to interrupt the solitude, the peace of being out with nature as birds finished their evening songs and hte skies darkened to reveal their shining gemstones (aka stars).
NOTE: The following photos were not taken with astronomical equipment but rather my iPhone 17 Pro Max, handheld, not mounted in a tripod/holder.
NOTE: The following photos were not taken with astronomical equipment but rather my iPhone 17 Pro Max, handheld, not mounted in a tripod/holder.
I sat on our deck and looked westward to discover Jupiter-Venus still up and, more importantly, visible in the western sky from our back yard. Amazing how bright they were despite the time of evening - you couldn't miss them if you tried! Jerry didn’t linger, but I stayed a bit longer to watch stars appear and shine brighter. BTW, did you know that Venus was only illuminated 75.9% this evening?
The planets were visible amongst the power wires and, if zoomed in to follow the wires to the right, the bright stars of the Twins (Pollux and Castor) were found. The light shining onto our backyard is from our den (where Jerry retreated to avoid the flies finding him). I love the effect that light had on our rhododendron (pinkish), azalea (orange) and the newly installed greenhouse, and, yes, our telescope pads are not in use.
13 mm / f2.2. 4032x3024 @ 10:00:13 PM ADT
Ten minutes after the above photo was taken, I held my phone pointing straight up as a plane passed Merak and Dubhe in the Big Dipper. I was lucky enough to capture the double in the handle - Mizar & Alcor. On the left, you will also find Draco’s head with his body going towards the top of the photo then wending its way past the Dipper. Although the stars are faint, I was really pleased how this photo turned out - despite being photo bombed by the plane (although the plane travelling in line with Merak and Dubhe was why I took the pic).
24 mm / f1.78 4032x3024 @ 10:10:13 PM ADT
One thing I discovered tonight is that at this time of year, I can see Scorpius lying low in the south, or at least from the Alniyat upwards; the tail portion wasn’t visible. What alerted me to recognize there was something there was this bight reddish star hanging seemingly alone. A 4-second photo showed Antares with the stars on either side of it (Alniyat and Paikauhale) and the stars forming the “claws” - Jabba, Omega 1 & 2, Graffias, Dschubba, and Fang. It was too bright and too hazy to ‘see’ M80 or M4I. Also captured in upper left (and blurry given this was handheld - or maybe I caught a satellite?) are the lower stars of Ophiuchus-Serpens. The only disappointment was that The Teapot could not be seen from our yard.
24 mm / f1.78 4032x3024 @ 10:17:16 PM ADT
Yes, I am happy. :)
