The waning crescent Moon, Venus and Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) on December 7, 2015. Comet Catalina is barely visible fuzzy blue spot at lower left. The comet proved to be fainter than expected and so with the cloud, it barely shows up, with its short tails wiped out here. Oh well! I was lucky to get this at all, as the forecast called for solid cloud. I shot this from the Quailway Cottage near Portal, New Mexico. Clouds added the coloured diffraction “corona” glows around the Moon and Venus. If you’re going to have cloud, it might as well add to the photo! This is a stack of 6 exposures: 30, 8, 2, 0.5, 1/8s and 1/30s, blended with luminosity masks as HDR would not blend images with such a large range of brightness and content, with the shortest exposures having almost no content execept for two bright objects! The camera was on the iOptron Sky-Tracker to follow the sky and keep the sky targets stationary and aligned. All with the 135mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D at ISO 800.
The waning crescent Moon and Venus rising over the Peloncillo Mountains in New Mexico, on December 7, 2015. Comet Catalina is in the frame as well as a barely visible fuzzy spot at lower left. I shot this from the Quailway Cottage near Portal, New Mexico. Clouds added the coloured diffraction glows around the Moon and Venus. This is a stack of 5 exposures: 30, 8, 2, 0.5 and 1/8s, blended with luminosity masks as HDR would not blend images with such a large range of brightness and content, with the shortest exposures having almost no content execept for two bright objects! The camera was on the iOptron Sky-Tracker to follow the sky and keep the sky targets stationary and aligned, thus the blurred foreground. All with the 135mm lens at f/2.8 and Canon 6D at ISO 400.
