Venus (bright object) and Mars (dimmer and reddish object above it) along the ecliptic path in the evening twilight sky over the Gila National Forest in southern New Mexico, north of Pinos Altos. The scene is lit by the waxing quarter Moon off frame to the left. Venus and Mars are converging toward a close conjunction with the Moon on Feb 20 and with each other on Feb, 21. This is an HDR composite of 4 exposures at one stop increments, to capture the range in brightness in the sky and ground, all shot with the 24mm lens at f/2.5 and Canon 6D at ISO 800, with the longest exposure at 25 seconds. Tone-mapped in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop CC 2014.
The thin waxing crescent Moon, with Mercury (below) and Venus (to the left of the Moon). Earthshine is visible on the crescent Moon. The trio is in the evening twilight sky over the town of Silver City, New Mexico, taken January 21, 2015. This is a stack of 3 exposures stacked as an HDR composite for a greater dynamic range. I used the Canon 60Da and 50mm lens.
Venus (left) and Mercury (right) in a close 0.5° conjunction on Sunday night, January 11, 2015, as shot through a telescope with a focal length of about 400mm. They appear here caught between two aircraft contrails glowing in the sunset. This is a 1/4 second exposure at ISO 100 with the TMB 92mm refractor at f/4.4. Shot from Silver City, New Mexico.
