Hello, Some of you may have noticed my latest GESO, about a nice conjunction between the thin moon crescent and the planet Venus last Saturday (GESO visible here): http://www.lacouture.nom.fr/gallery/v/geso/2007-01-20-LuneVenusMarseille/ http://tinyurl.com/24bg2d
Unfortunately, I forgot to post a notice on the list beforehand, and only David Savage and I shared images of this event (Dave's images here): <http://www.arach.net.au/~savage/GESO/GESO_013/pages/_IGP0846.htm> <http://www.arach.net.au/~savage/GESO/GESO_013/pages/_IGP0855.htm> For people here that are interested in doing this kind of photos, I propose another similar challenge: On next February 12, the now growing moon will then be a very thin crescent again, closing to the sun. At this very day, it will cruise near the very bright planet Jupiter and the bright start Antares, in the Scorpion constellation. The trio will raise at the east (as usual), shortly before the sun, wherever you live. There are two challenges here: - doing a nice composition, of general photographic interest, and not only a pure astronomical "documentary" photograph, that would please only astronomers. - getting up at this time of the morning (and of the year in northern countries) I will do my best to produce something, and I invite enthusiasts to join me. To get an idea of what to expect, I did a simulation with the great software Stellarium, visible here: http://www.lacouture.nom.fr/gallery/v/divers/2007-02-12-MJA/2007-02-12-Moon-Jupiter-Antares-crop.jpg.html http://tinyurl.com/ytmx8k This simulation is for Marseilles, France, but the configuration should be similar wherever you live in the northern hemisphere. The moon inclination will vary according to your latitude, and will be reversed in the southern hemisphere, but you get the idea. FYI, my shot of last saturday with the longest focal was approx 125mm. This is not really a "synchronicity" project, as everyone must take the picture before dawn wherever (s)he lives, before the moon and the rest disappear into the sun's light. If the number of participants is enough, I'll probably set up a gallery somewhere to host the images. If this bothers you, sorry for that, otherwise, enjoy! Patrice -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
