March 15th, 2017, 7:45 p.m. local time
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
