Another Attempt at Photographing Venus

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With a clear sky, calm air, and moderately cold temperature, I had no excuse not to attempt a final imagining of Venus before it passes towards and through the Sun.  Sure it will come back, but this also finally marks the end of a journey I started in August of last year, when I spent many sunsets searching with my binoculars for the emerging planet.  My first images were awful – was not the ideal time to photograph Venus when it was far away from Earth and also so low on the horizon.

But tonight, I got what may be my best Venus image yet.  With my 127mm Mak-Cass and smartphone, I took a bunch of videos.  When I stacked them separately hours later, the above is the one I considered to be the prime of the crop.

Will I be getting up early to see Venus rising in the East this Spring?  Maybe, or at least I hope I can do it on a weekend or two.

Details of my telescope setup:

• 127mm Mak-Cass Orion Starseeker IV
• 10mm Plossl eyepiece
• x2 Barlow lens
• Baader Neodymium filter
• Moon 13% transmission filter
• Orion SteadyPix EZ Smartphone Telescope Photo Adapter
• Samsung Galaxy S7