The nearly Full Moon rising on March 18 near the date of the March equinox (March 20 this year) , so it rose nearly due east this night. This March Moon is also popularly called the Worm Moon. The Moon was a day past Full this night, and clouds hid the Moon at moonrise. By the time it appeared from behind the cloud bank it was a little south of due east and the east-west prairie road. This is a 7-exposure blend to retain detail in the lunar disk while bringing out the ground. Exposures ranged from 1/10 second to 25 seconds, all with the RF70-200mm lens at f/8 and Canon Ra at ISO 400. Blended with ADP Pro luminosity masking panel. Taken from near home in southern Alberta.
This is the wide conjunction of the 1.5-day-old crescent Moon below Jupiter in the southwest evening sky of February 2, 2022. The two worlds appeared 4.5° apart at this time. Earthshine is visible on the "dark side of the Moon." Taken from home in southern Alberta on an evening with the temperature at -20° C and a brisk wind! This is a single 1.6-second exposure with the Canon 70-200mm f/4 RF lens at f/4 and 84mm focal length, and with the Canon Ra camera at ISO 100. Diffraction spikes on Jupiter added with Astronomy Tools actions.
The array of four planets in the evening twilight on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2021, and on a very chilly night with the temperature at -25° C. Thus the steam from the distant power plant. Mercury was climbing higher toward its January 7, 2022 greatest elongation, while Venus was descending lower toward its January 9 inferior conjunction with the Sun. They passed each other this night and so were at almost the same altitude low in the southwest. Jupiter (upper left) and Saturn (centre) were also dropping lower each night to also disappear close to the Sun in early 2022, Saturn in early February and Jupiter in early March for their respective solar conjunctions. This is a single 1/4-second exposure with the Canon RF 28-70mm lens at 38mm on the Canon Ra at ISO 100. Taken from Highway 1 and Sec 561 intersection in southern Alberta. This version has labels and line; a version without is available.
