Bright Companions

A waxing crescent moon and the -4.21 magnitude planet Venus were within about four degrees of one another as they set in the western sky on the evening of Thursday, February 27, 2020. Above, the bright duo are captured at 7:10 pm CST with an exposure of 1/6 second at f/4, ISO 6400 and 24mm focal length.  The bright star in the trees at right is the 2.06 magnitude Alpheratz in the constellation Andromeda. This image looks over Bowman Woods Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with air temperature being 24 degrees F. Within 12 hours the clear sky would change to one of falling snow. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Read more...

Taking a Dim View of Betelgeuse

The star Betelgeuse (arrow) is shown within its constellation Orion in the SSE sky as seen from the Bowman Woods area of NE Cedar Rapids on the evening of Monday, February 10, 2020. The star has received recent notice because of its progressive dimming. The slightly variable star, with a normal magnitude of around 0.5, is located about 700 light years distant. It began its abnormal dimming last November 19, and by December 23 had lowered to a magnitude of 1.3. Betelgeuse is currently even less bright at magnitude 1.5--half of what it was in November. This significant dimming has some scientists speculating whether the red giant star is preparing to explode in a supernova event. The bright star at bottom in the trees is magnitude -1.47 Sirius. This image, captured at 7:02 pm CST, is a 2.5 second exposure at f/3.5, ISO 1600 and 18mm focal length.

7:09 pm. Closeup of the constellation Orion, with its prominent stars labeled. 2.5 second exposure at f/5, ISO 4000, 40mm focal length. Air temperature was 25 degrees F. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera.

Read more...