Above~ View from the front porch 4:45 am. Jupiter/Mars are to the left of the post, Saturn is close to the right edge of photo, Venus is washed out by the fog by this point.
Sunday, May 29, 2022~ 4:25 – 5:30 am.
Location~ Moosehorn Creek, NB
Sky Conditions~ Mainly clear with low fog, some clouds/heavy mist in the east.
Temp~ 10° High humidity due to last nights rain..
Nighttime ends/Astronomical Twilight begins 3:14 am
Nautical Twilight~ 4:14 am
Blue Hour~ 5:02 am
Moonrise~ 5:03 am
Golden Hour~ 5:17
Sunrise~ 5:39 am
Moon was at only 1.3% brightness.
Age of Moon~ 28d 11h 37m
An elusive 28 Day Moon and a Jupiter-Mars pairing~
Awoke 3:30 am. When I went past a window I was surprised to see stars out in the west after the late night rain we just had. Looked out a window on the east side and saw Jupiter and Mars nice and bright. Thought maybe there was a shot at viewing the 28 Day Moon. Since the Moon clears the hills here about 25 minutes after the listed rise time that meant it would be at least 5:23 am, only 19 minutes from sunrise.
Once I got a coffee, made it out to the front porch about 4:25. Despite last night’s rain and the fog clinging to the ground it was a beautiful view of Venus just over the horizon with Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn at a good height for viewing. Mindful of the time, viewed Saturn first with the 10mm Ethos, lingering as if greeting an old friend. Moved the scope over for Jupiter/Mars, they were close together. Beautiful clean view of Jupiter with four moons quite distinct, two on either side but not in a straight line, and thought I saw a fifth. Shifted the Telrad a bit for Mars, went in for a view and was pleasantly surprised I could get Mars and Jupiter in the same FOV on the 10mm. Nice! Went in for a look at Venus and it was very bright at this point.
Peepers and birds~
It was shaping up to be beautiful morning with lots of ambient sounds as well: peepers, some of the birds were starting minus the owl of the other morning.
At 4:45 stopped to get some front porch pics and wait for the Moonrise. Unfortunately, was never able to spot it through the increasing fog and low clouds ahead of the sunrise, neither visually nor with binos or scope. As a last ditch attempt, I used the Augmented Reality feature of the PhotoPills app to aid finding the exact spot of the Moon’s rise, which I had used before in the sunrise eclipse of June 2021 and found to be accurate. However, it was to no avail: too much to see through. An approaching sunrise means increasing temps, and the ground fog began to increase.
Above and below~ Using the Augmented Reality feature of the PhotoPills app as an aid to line up the Moonrise. 5:16 am, May 29, 2022.
Finally shut it down 5:30 am. As I was putting things away the Sun was starting to peek over the hills, and the direct sunlight hit all the water crystals that were in the air on the porch. Stunning. Overall, the most memorable sight was the Jupiter and Mars pairing in the eyepiece. What an incredible way to start the day.
Summary~
Moon at 28d 11h 37m–was unable to view
Saturn at 66 magnification
Jupiter with 4 moons Mars in same FOV
Venus
All above at 66 magnification
Scope– ES AR 102 – 102mm f/6.5 663mm Doublet Refractor
Mount– Twilight I
Eyepiece used– 10mm Ethos
Sources~
The PhotoPills App~ Exact time and age of the Lunar Cycle, sunset, twilight phase info for our gps location, etc. Great app.
Heavens Above Planetary Information~ Excellent website.
Stellarium App~ The goto app for what’s what in the night sky.
