Lunar occultation of Mars

Image Critiques Nightscape & Astro Critiques
1

Mars is below and left of the moon here.

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Here is a composite as it got closer:

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Almost disappeared:

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And an hour later popping out again. The angle seems odd as it popped out the top and went straight up (the camera was level in all exposures) – but the Moon was moving relative to the sky dome and Mars.

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Critique Style Requested: Standard

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Description

Last night was a rare chance to catch the moon passing in front of Mars, and it was reasonably clear. But the event was shortly after moonrise out here on the west coast, and the low angle and still-warm air created a lot of atmospheric turbulence, so image quality is not good.

Specific Feedback

All comments welcome!

Technical Details

Canon R5, 100-500 + 2X at 1000mm, f/13, ISO 800, 1/180 sec, M mode.

Some tweaking of global sliders in LR, into PS for Topaz Denoise and crops. The second one is a composite of masked layers. Even in M mode the light changed with the thin clouds and of course I did my obligatory inadvertent bump of the ISO at one point, and started with the focal length at 600. I’ll never get used to lenses that change physical length with zoom.

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4 Likes
2

I love that first image @Diane_Miller ! Not only is the moon beautiful but so is the entire image. I love the trees at the bottom and the misty sky. Overall it has a fantastic moon and the fact that Mars is also in the frame is a welcome bonus. :slight_smile:

3

Thanks, @Tom_Nevesely! I had to drive some distance to a spot with a low-enough horizon to the east to get the first part, then I had time to drive back home to shoot the last part from the top of our driveway. The day before I had used my iPhone laid flat on my tripod head to measure the elevations at the azimuths where the moon would be. It proved accurate!

4

That’s a very clever way of using an iPhone. I’m going to have to remember that! :slight_smile:

5

Thanks, @Tom_Nevesely! It’s accurate to about a degree – handy way to know what a local horizon is.

6

Thats a nifty image Diane! The whole series is great. Love how close you were able to get Mars to the edge of the moon! I actually dont mind the atmospheric disruptions to a moon in a landscape like this. Really nice! We been so cloudy here that moon shots have been off the table. At least we’re finally getting some snow. It was looking dismal for a while there.

7

Thanks, @Paul_Holdorf! This would have been cool to try with the astro rig but it’s just too difficult to re-locate, and it’s only about equivalent to 640mm on a full frame. That’s a pretty small moon and a WAY smaller Mars. There are upcoming occultations for Saturn Feb 1 and Mars again Feb 9, but I haven’t checked where they will be visible.

I’m rooting for you as the galactic center comes back in view!