Catch the new moon! (and other celestial objects)

[pgriz]

One day later, got lucky. Clouds cleared just in time for sunset.

Posted my results (well, two of them) in this thread: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/landscape-cityscape/274711-new-moon-setting.html

 

[astrostu]

Missed the moon last night but Mercury sure is bright orange/red this morning.

This is not correct. Mercury is in the sky at dusk, not dawn. There are no visible planets in the sky these days in the morning except Saturn, far in the west.

 

[Archer]

Missed the moon last night but Mercury sure is bright orange/red this morning.

This is not correct. Mercury is in the sky at dusk, not dawn. There are no visible planets in the sky these days in the morning except Saturn, far in the west.

Hmmm...Jupiter maybe. Only thing I can find as a possibility at 5-5:30am. Saw a reference to Venus setting 4 hours after the sun and Jupiter 5 hours after that (or vice versa on the hours). It was orange/red about 20 deg off the horizon due West. UFO

 

[astrostu]

Missed the moon last night but Mercury sure is bright orange/red this morning.

This is not correct. Mercury is in the sky at dusk, not dawn. There are no visible planets in the sky these days in the morning except Saturn, far in the west.

Hmmm...Jupiter maybe. Only thing I can find as a possibility at 5-5:30am. Saw a reference to Venus setting 4 hours after the sun and Jupiter 5 hours after that (or vice versa on the hours). It was orange/red about 20 deg off the horizon due West. UFO

Again, Jupiter is an evening object. Saturn is the only planet you have in the morning right now.

 

[Archer]

This is not correct. Mercury is in the sky at dusk, not dawn. There are no visible planets in the sky these days in the morning except Saturn, far in the west.

Hmmm...Jupiter maybe. Only thing I can find as a possibility at 5-5:30am. Saw a reference to Venus setting 4 hours after the sun and Jupiter 5 hours after that (or vice versa on the hours). It was orange/red about 20 deg off the horizon due West. UFO

Again, Jupiter is an evening object. Saturn is the only planet you have in the morning right now.

I'm ignorant to these matters. Are you confirming or denying that I saw a UFO. Jk. I took your "except Saturn, far in the west" to mean I probably wasn't seeing that either.

 

[astrostu]

Hmmm...Jupiter maybe. Only thing I can find as a possibility at 5-5:30am. Saw a reference to Venus setting 4 hours after the sun and Jupiter 5 hours after that (or vice versa on the hours). It was orange/red about 20 deg off the horizon due West. UFO

Again, Jupiter is an evening object. Saturn is the only planet you have in the morning right now.

I'm ignorant to these matters. Are you confirming or denying that I saw a UFO. Jk. I took your "except Saturn, far in the west" to mean I probably wasn't seeing that either.

I mentioned that Saturn is in the west in the morning because I didn't know where you were looking. If you thought you saw Mercury, hopefully you were looking near the sun which, in the morning, would be East. There are also no bright stars out that I could see that would be abnormally bright and red near the rising sun.

 

[pgriz]

For those interested in knowing what they are looking at when they see shiny things in the sky, this free planetarium software may be the answer: Stellarium. While not as powerful as the commercial planetrium programs like "The Sky", it gives a pretty good view of what's up there at any time of the night (or day, for that matter). It will not, however, show UFO's, weather events, ball lightning, pink elephants, or supernatural events. Still, it's a good tool to use in planning to shoot astronomy-related or themed images. I've mentioned it before, but The Photographer's Ephemeris | Plan your shoot is a good tool for knowing when the sun or moon will rise or set, and in what direction you should be looking to see them.

 

[davesnothere11]

For those interested in knowing what they are looking at when they see shiny things in the sky, this free planetarium software may be the answer: Stellarium. While not as powerful as the commercial planetrium programs like "The Sky", it gives a pretty good view of what's up there at any time of the night (or day, for that matter). It will not, however, show UFO's, weather events, ball lightning, pink elephants, or supernatural events. Still, it's a good tool to use in planning to shoot astronomy-related or themed images. I've mentioned it before, but The Photographer's Ephemeris | Plan your shoot is a good tool for knowing when the sun or moon will rise or set, and in what direction you should be looking to see them.

Thanks.

Also for the iPhone crowd ( maybe Android too, not sure) there is an app called Star Walk. It's awesome. Search function, heads up display, and timeline you can speed up slow down plus lots more.