~ Spectacular planet Venus still on show in the western sky ~
 
During January we've had a lot of rain and the sky's been very cloudy most of the time. I did manage to capture another picture of Venus the other night and the planet's now showing a slightly smaller gibbous phase.
​
(Please see my Venus blog from the 18th December when we had a lot of bush fire haze in the sky).
http://www.mystardustobservatory.com/astro-blog/-spectacular-planet-venus-now-on-show-in-the-western-sky
 
I was also able to capture some swirling cloud on the surface, which was exciting to see in the image. Venus is an interesting planet to observe because it’s an inner planet from us and closer to the Sun so it displays phases just like our Moon. I will try and capture some more images over the coming weeks in between this cloudy weather.
 
I have included imaging details on the photo; a short AVI movie of 800 frames was captured and stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4. 

As you can see from my photographs above, I don’t have much room in my garden for a western view of the sky,
​I also have to contend with a caravan as well,
​but I always make do with what I have and as long as I capture the event…I’m very happy :-)
 
Images of Venus were taken with a Meade 10inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope using a ZWO ASI120MC-S camera with a wide field lens attached.
AVI movie files were captured which were then stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4. 

Venus hides a wealth of information that could help us better understand Earth and exoplanets. NASA's JPL is designing mission concepts to survive the planet's extreme temperatures and atmospheric pressure. 
 
The image above is a composite of data from NASA's Magellan spacecraft and Pioneer Venus Orbiter.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech 

Sue Smrekar really wants to go back to Venus. In her office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the planetary scientist displays a 30-year-old image of Venus' surface taken by the Magellan spacecraft, a reminder of how much time has passed since an American mission orbited the planet. The image reveals a hellish landscape: a young surface with more volcanoes than any other body in the solar system, gigantic rifts, towering mountain belts and temperatures hot enough to melt lead.
 
Now superheated by greenhouse gases, Venus' climate was once more similar to Earth's, with a shallow ocean's worth of water. It may even have subduction zones like Earth, areas where the planet's crust sinks back into rock closer to the core of the planet.
 
"Venus is like the control case for Earth," said Smrekar. "We believe they started out with the same composition, the same water and carbon dioxide. And they've gone down two completely different paths. So why? What are the key forces responsible for the differences?"
 
Smrekar works with the Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG), a coalition of scientists and engineers investigating ways to revisit the planet that Magellan mapped so many decades ago. Though their approaches vary, the group agrees that Venus could tell us something vitally important about our planet: what happened to the superheated climate of our planetary twin, and what does it mean for life on Earth?

To read more of the story please go to:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7558
For more information about Venus, visit:
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/overview/
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-venus/en/

By studying this mysterious planet, scientists could learn a great deal more about exoplanets, as well as the past, present, and possible future of our own. This video below unveils this world and calls on current and future scientists to explore its many features. Credit: NASA

I decided to set my other telescope up in all this heat today to see if that new sunspot could be seen developing on the surface of the Sun, it was very very faint but YES…there is was, I got it :-)
 
There was a lot of heat haze and high thin cloud in the sky so I was extremely lucky to even capture the sunspot, it’s not been designated any number yet but I’m sure it won’t be long.
 
To find out more about this new solar cycle just keep checking the Spaceweather.com website at: https://www.spaceweather.com
 
The images were taken with a 127mm refractor at prime focus that was fitted with a solar filter. I used a Canon 700D camera to take the pictures, exposures times were 1/500th second and ISO 200. Twelve images were stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4.

This is my telescope set-up that I used to take a picture of the Sun on the 9th January 2020. I used a 127mm (5inch) refractor with an Orion glass solar filter attached to the front lens.

(DANGER: Never look through a telescope without a solar filter)
 
The little Tele Vue Sol Searcher that you see on top of the telescope is just a wonderful piece of inexpensive equipment for lining up the Sun. It has a hole at the front, which the sunlight passes through and falls onto a clear screen when the telescope is lined up with the Sun. I would not be without this great little gadget :-)

This is the first, first quarter Moon for the New Year and it was a lovely clear evening for taking pictures through my telescope. I was a little late to try and capture the X on the terminator line but the big three lunar craters Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus & Arzachel looked spectacular with their sunlit peaks.

The close up images were taken with a Meade 10inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope using a ZWO ASI120MC-S camera with a focal reducer attached.
 
AVI movie files were captured which were then stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4. The full lunar disc was taken with a Canon 700D, I had to put a F6.3 focal reducer in the telescope system to capture the wide field view of the Moon.

It’s New Years Eve and I’ve set the telescope up in the garden to capture our beautiful Moon for the last day of 2019.
 
We have a four-day-old waxing crescent Moon that’s about half way up the north western sky as seen here in Australia. We see the Moon differently here in the land down under, in that the Moons view is upside down (south at the top and north at the bottom) you’ll also notice that the lit portion is also facing the other way…tricky isn’t it :-)
 
At this phase the whole of Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises) is on show in sharp relief from the Suns light. Just to give you an idea how big Mare Crisium is, the surface area is 176,000 sq km and diameter of 570km (that’s about the same area of Great Britain) *Sourced from Hamlyn ‘Atlas of the Moon’ by Antonin Rukl.
 
There are a lot of very interesting features on the lunar surface and I’ve named a few of them on my images, if you become fascinated in the Moon you must get a good lunar atlas or app to help you discover the names of the features on the surface.

 It’s really lovely sitting out here listening to all the fireworks and taking pictures of our nearest neighbour in space…that’s the Moon not the people next door :-))
 
Happy New Year everyone, WooHoo! 2020 is on the way….
 
To download an Australian Moon Phase Calendar for 2020 please go to the link below: Sydney Observatory Moon Phase Calendar
https://maas.museum/sydney-observatory/astronomy-resources/moon-phase-calendar/
 
The close up images were taken with a Meade 10inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope using a ZWO ASI120MC-S camera with a focal reducer attached. AVI movie files were captured which were then stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4.
The full lunar disc was taken with a Canon 700D, I had to put a F6.3 focal reducer in the telescope system to capture the wide field view of the Moon.

~ Waxing Crescent Moon & Venus 29th December 2019 ~
​
The crescent Moon is now above Venus in the western sky,
it looked quite spectacular in the dark blue velvety sky this evening.
 
Image taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens @f11,
the exposure time was 2 seconds and ISO 500.

~ Solstice Sun ~

Today is the summer solstice here in Australia, this is a time when we have the hottest weather and the longest day of the year, unlike the people who live in the northern hemisphere who today are experiencing there shortest day of the year and it’s probably very cold…isn’t our world an amazing place!
 
I took this image at 2.30pm this afternoon through quite a lot of smoke haze with the surrounding landscape having a soft yellow hue that was filtering down from the sky.
 

I couldn’t help myself, but the Sun looked so bland that I decided to have a bit of fun and made a
​ ‘Sunny Christmas Bauble’ to wish everyone a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year :-)
 
Image taken with a Canon 70D camera and an 18-400mm lens with a 2x teleconverter. There were eight images stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4. The exposure times were 1/100th second and ISO 500.

I was very excited to finally capture Venus going down in the western sky this evening. Because of all the bushfire haze it displayed these pretty colours due to its brilliant light being scattered by our smoky atmosphere. I could have processed the colours out but this is exactly what Venus looked like in the eyepiece of my telescope and the camera has captured it…
 
Venus is an interesting planet to observe because it’s an inner planet from us and closer to the Sun so it displays phases just like our Moon; at the moment it’s a gibbous shape :-)
 
I have included imaging details on the photo; a short AVI movie of 400 frames was captured (because Venus was jumping all over the place) and stacked them in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4. 

The new crescent Moon looked ever so pretty this evening with the planets Jupiter, Venus and Saturn all on display in the western sky after sunset.
I was again nearly eaten alive by the mosquitoes taking the photos…but it was worth it :-)
 
My image was taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens on a tripod; the exposure time was 3.2 seconds at F16 and ISO800.

I just managed to capture Venus and Jupiter at there closest approach (only 1.4 degrees apart) before a large dark cloud (that looked a bit like a Dragon) completely covered the planets, at least I got a picture of them :-)
 
Venus has now passed Jupiter on the ecliptic and will continue to get higher each night until the new crescent Moon joins them in a couple of days time, so the shows not over yet…
 
My image was taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens on a tripod; the exposure time was 0.4 seconds and ISO1250 and YES, the mosquitoes nearly ate me alive again!

There is a spectacular celestial display happening in the western sky after sunset for anybody who takes the time to go outside and have a look…
 
A meeting of two of the brightest planets in our solar system is taking place and they are getting closer and closer every day…so please hop off your comfortable lounge and pop outside to take a look at the wonderful display :-)
 
If you have a look at the close up photo of the planets you can just make a couple of the moons of Jupiter beside the planet, which was lovely to capture.
 
Image was taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400 mm lens on a tripod; the exposure time was 0.6 seconds and ISO1600.