February New Moon & Venus Spotting

[Centaur]

Who will be the first to spot the February New Moon with naked eyes after sunset? The Dark Moon will be in geocentric longitudinal conjunction with the Sun on 2009 FEB 25 at 01:35 UT (24 at 19:35 CST). The first opportunity for North Americans will come on February 25th. We’re now in the portion of the year that is favorable for spotting a really young Moon from the northern hemisphere.

I’ve created a graphic previewing the western sky as viewed from Chicagoland 25 minutes after sunset on February 25th, although it should well serve most North Americans. The faint Moon will appear about 26° beneath and slightly to the right of brilliant Venus. I also made one to demonstrate the conjunction of the Moon and Venus on February 27th. Those graphics can be seen by clicking: http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

Photos or descriptions of the February New Moon or the Moon-Venus conjunction would be welcome additions to this thread. Please include the date, time, time zone and location. Good Luck!

Below is a photo I took from Arlington Heights, Illinois on 2007 MAR 19 of the Moon aged 21:45 hours, which is the youngest I’ve seen it.


http://www.curtrenz.com/MarchNewMoon.JPG

[mahesh]

Mr Renz, you are an Ace!
Twenty one hours /forty five...phew!
That's some keen eyesight and perseverence and some photography!

Thanks for sharing this exquisite picture.

What gorgeous inspiring examples you set!

[Brilliant Aberration]

No new moon, but I do have some pictures of the current old moon I took this morning. Planets included.

My tiny camera has only 3x zoom, but I was able to catch the moon this morning shortly before sunrise. This was taken February 23 at roughly 11:30 UT (06:30 EST) in Atlanta, GA. So if the new moon is the 25th at 01:35, that means this moon has about 38:05 hours left to go. (Is there a special term for this? I noticed the original poster used the term "aged" to describe a short period of time since the new moon. Is there a complementary term used when it's a short period of time remaining in the current cycle?)

The first picture was taken probably right at 11:30 UT, and it's the moon on the horizon. To the right of the moon is the AT&T Midtown Center in downtown Atlanta, and to the right of that about 3/4ths of the way up the building is Mercury.

The second picture was taken closer to 11:45 UT. The moon is higher in the sky, and now Jupiter has come out from behind the AT&T Center to join Mercury. The two planets are both at the height of the AT&T building's roof, and to the right of them is the Bank of America Plaza.

Mars was behind the AT&T the whole time, I believe, and may not have been bright enough to see considering the city lights and approaching sunrise.

They're not great pictures, but it was my first attempt and it was really exciting. The skyline of the city actually works to make the scene even more engaging, IMO.

Reduced size images are included as attachments to this post. Higher resolution images (3264x2448, about 1.6MB) are at:

http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gth685t/MyMedia/planets060.jpg
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gth685t/MyMedia/planets098.jpg

[Tucson_Tim]

I also made one to demonstrate the conjunction of the Moon and Venus on February 27th. Those graphics can be seen by clicking: http://www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html


I would love to see some pics of the conjunction of the New Moon and Venus on Friday (27th). (Hint, hint :))

[mahesh]

ahem...excuse me...
Managed to capture Venus and Moon yesterday...you wouldn't believe it..with my phone camera! Window of Opportunity!
After so many 'Clouded-out New Moons'.

It's nothing to write home about....i'll try to upload...here goes...
well i think it's done :think:

Zoomed in, so magnification at exposure is four.
Please excuse the inevitable jet-trail....
Feb 27 at 17 57 hrs GMT would make our Moon, three days old. Diana's Smile!
Isn't that right Mr Renz?

It was lovely sight. I do not know the exact local sunset time. Subsequently I shot a few more in increasing darkness. Basically it was over in the space of five or so minutes, with haze and speckled clouds...
I'll see what is worthy of you, for me to share.

And also I shall try to be more serious. May be borrow Flynn's camera we gave him for Christmas; use my 'scope.

[mahesh]

Okay...having had another look, plus visiting Tony873004 thread here:
http://www.bautforum.com/astrophotography/85382-moon-venus.html#post1445473
what he and man on the moon, have posted are magnificient first attempts.

mine here, pales into insignificance. just an alert that these are from my phone camera...

#478 is zoomed in / outside our appt on right
#479 regular shot / outside out appt
#480 is regular shot sans modifications
#482 is badly shaken, regularly shot, but i like the sky colour; shielded eyes from street lamp glare to peek the wonder beyond.

will try hit my steps better, next time

[Centaur]

Nice pictures, Mahesh. Glad you got to see the pretty conjunction. Thanks for sharing. A three-day-old Moon was traditionally called Diana’s Bow in reference to the archery equipment of the ancient Roman goddess of hunting and the Moon. But Diana’s Smile sounds good to me!

[mahesh]

Why, thank you Mr Renz!
my first foray at up-loading my own astronomical pictures at a thread....feel like a kid...

yah...Diana's Bow!! i forgot...that was part of your quiz a while back...
i remember it as Diana's Smile! may be we'll refer to it as both. Here at BAUT.
Well, Diana smiles and we bow!

[fifelad55]

If I remember, I'll try to find the moon on 27th March. It should be around 19 1/2 hours old when the Sun sets here.

Back in December, I was fortunate to get some clear skies to the west after sunset so was able to see both Mercury and Jupiter in the same binocular field.

Alan

[mahesh]

If I remember, I'll try to find the moon on 27th March. It should be around 19 1/2 hours old when the Sun sets here.

Back in December, I was fortunate to get some clear skies to the west after sunset so was able to see both Mercury and Jupiter in the same binocular field.

Alan
Did you shoot any pictures, that you'd care to share?