Above~ View from the front porch at 4:35 am, May 26, 2022. Moon is blocked by clouds behind scope, Venus had not yet risen, and Jupiter and Mars are to the right of the adjusting knob. Saturn is over to the right. Nikon 5100 with a 10mm lens, 25 sec @ f4.5, ISO 400.
Thursday, May 26, 2022~ 4:15 – 5:20 am.
Location~ Moosehorn Creek, NB
Sky Conditions~ Low band of clouds in the east. A bit hazy.
Temp~ 7° Warmer temp than yesterday but of course that means more moisture in air.
Nighttime ends/Astronomical Twilight begins 3:21 am
Nautical Twilight~ 4:17 am
Moonrise~ 4:01 am
Blue Hour~ 5:05
Golden Hour~ 5:19
Sunrise~ 5:41 am
Age of Moon~ 25d 10h 50m
25 Day Moon and Dance of the Planets~
I awoke at 3:22 am as total darkness was ending. Made it out to the front porch about 4:12 just as the Moon was starting to come over the horizon with one half of the beautiful crescent showing yellow-orange and moving now into the band of clouds. This time I grabbed the view of Saturn first, then Jupiter and Mars. Could easily make out four of Jupiter’s moons. Venus had not yet risen over the hills, and even if it had it would have been blocked by clouds.
Viewing of the Moon was useless, but I looked anyway. Stopped to get some front porch shots–may as well wait for viewing. It was all quite spectacular at 4:30 am. The owl from yesterday was quiet and there were less ambient noises this morning.
The lunar crescent began to clear clouds a bit–lots of atmospheric interference and shimmering at this low angle. Decided to get a few prime focus shots at 5 am just to see what happens, play with exposures a bit.
Above~ My 2nd attempt with prime focus on the f6.5 AR 102, only slightly better than yesterday’s. Nikon 5100, 1/3 sec, ISO 100. Need to up the ISO I think.
Below~ My 1st attempt with a 2x Powermate on the f6.5 AR 102. Nikon 5100, 1/3 sec, ISO 100.
Sunrise cometh~
Tried out the 2x Powermate on the AR 102 for the first time–not enough back focus but pulled it out enough to make it work. Need to add exposure ring for that setup, will have to add to my front porch kit. Moon slowly began clearing the band of clouds. At 5:15 went back to the eyepiece just as Golden Hour was about to start, the approaching sunrise at 5:41 was making viewing much less distinct. Went for a last look at Jupiter and Mars. Higher now, the moons of Jupiter were quite distinct at this point, clearer.
Shut it down at 5:20 am. Most noticeable features of the Moon were the Terminator running thru Gassendi and Doppelmayer with Kepler really standing out near the middle. Time is certainly short for viewing the 25 Day Moon in May through summer. Pics were a disappointment but ok just to see what happens.
Weather does not look promising at all for the next few days. Rain, which is badly needed, is on the way.
Summary~
Moon at 25d 10h 50m at 66 magnification
Saturn, Mars and Jupiter with 4 moons
Gassendi, Doppelmayer and Kepler
All above at 66 magnification
Scope– ES AR 102 – 102mm f/6.5 663mm Doublet Refractor
Mount– Twilight I
Eyepiece used– 10mm Ethos
Sources~
New Atlas of the Moon by Thierry Legault & Serge Brunier [2006]. Beautiful Firefly reference book with overlays, unfortunately out of print.
Sky and Telescope’s Field Map of the Moon~Mirror image laminated fold out map. I usethis all the time, handy.
The PhotoPills App~ Exact time and age of the Lunar Cycle, sunset, twilight phase info for our gps location, etc. Great app.
Planetary Information~ Heavens Above. Excellent website.