T.G.'s Photography Blog

The Moon and the Planet Saturn in the southern sky, above Syracuse, NY. This post continues my Moon and and tiny-spot planet series .  On Wednesday, November 10, 2021, at 7 PM, the Moon and the planet Saturn could were close to each other in the southern sky above Syracuse, NY . While the planet Saturn is a white dot in the photograph, it was still interesting to see it and the Moon together.  The Moon was in its Waxing Crescent Phase on this night, and at the time of the photograph, had an illumination of 44.3%. The distance of the Moon from Earth was 376,416 km, while Saturn was 1,507.06 million km from Earth.   Photograph taken on November 10, 2021, from Syracuse, New York.

 Back on Sunday, November 7, 2021, the Moon was in its Waxing Crescent Phase. After taking a photograph of the Moon and the Planet Venus together , I captured a few photographs of just the Moon, to show more detail in its surface. The most prominent feature that is seen in the photograph is the Mare Crisium, a basin on the Moon's surface. Mare Crisium during the Waxing Crescent Moon The Mare Crisium is seen along the dark and light edge of the illuminated surface. At the time I took the photograph, around 6 PM EST, the Moon's illumination was 13.5%. With this level of illumination, the Mare Crisium had just become fully visible on the Moon's surface. According to NASA, the Mare Crisium is about 3.9 billion years old, and is 740 km (460 miles) wide. While the Mare Crisium looks to be rather flat in the photograph, NASA states that it is about 1.8 km (1.1 miles) below the Moon's lunar datum (the Moon's sea level). It also reaches to a height of 3.34 km (2.1 miles) ab...

This past Saturday I captured some photographs of the Waxing Crescent Moon and Venus in the sky above Syracuse, New York. The two objects were too far apart, in my opinion, to get both objects in the same photograph and still see some detail in the Moon's surface. However, the following evening, Sunday, November 7, 2021, Venus had moved closer to the Moon, and I was able to capture a photograph of both of them together that I liked. The Waxing Crescent Moon and the planet Venus in the night sky, above Syracuse, NY. Venus is currently on a path that will bring it nearer to Earth, until early January 2022. On Sunday evening when I took this photograph, Venus was about 89.5 million kilometers/55.6 million miles from Earth, about 1.1 million kilometers/700,000 miles closer than on Saturday evening. Venus' closest distance to Earth in January 2022, will be about 39.77 million kilometers/24.7 million miles. The Moon was in its Waxing Crescent Phase, which occurs after a New Moon. At...

With clear skies this past weekend, I was able to capture some photographs of the Waxing Crescent Moon and the planet Venus in the sky above Syracuse, New York.  Waxing Crescent Moon The Crescent Moon with an illumination of 6.5%, on November 6, 2021. On Saturday, November 6, 2021, according to NASA, approximately 6.5 percent of the Moon was illuminated during the hour in which I took the photograph of the Crescent Moon. The  Waxing Crescent Moon  is the phase occurring right after a New Moon. The illumination of the Moon grows to 49.9% during this phase. When I took the photograph, the Moon was in the southwestern sky, and its distance from Earth at the time was approximately 362,000 kilometers/225,000 miles.  Venus in the southern sky  Venus is the southern sky, on November 6, 2021. In addition to the Crescent Moon, the planet Venus could be seen in the southern sky on Saturday night. Venus was just under 90.7 million kilometers/56.3 million miles from Earth, ...

 Back on August 29th, I caught the Waning Gibbous Moon in the late morning. This weekend, I was able to catch the Waxing Crescent Moon on the evening of Saturday, September 11, 2021. The Waxing Crescent Moon The Waning Gibbous Phase is when the amount of the Moon surface that is visible from Earth shrinks, ranging from 99.9% to 50.1%. The Waxing Crescent Moon is when the visible amount of the Moon's surface starts to grow, after the New Moon. The Waxing Crescent Moon's visible amount of surface ranges from 0.1% to 49.9%. The Waxing Crescent Moon Photograph taken on September 11, 2021 at 19:26 EST, from Syracuse, NY