Daytime lunar occultation of Venus – April 6, 2016

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Today, a nice but very difficult event took place: the Moon glided over the very small disc of Venus (at only 10.3″). It was a difficult session due to the close proximity of the event to the Sun (around 17 degrees), but also to some cirrus clouds present in the area. Also, the Moon was impossible to spot both visually and in the raw images (one day to New Moon).

The equipment for this session: the TS 115mm F/7 APO Refractor (plus a 3x Barlow lens) and ASI 174MM camera with a red filter.

First shot shows Venus just 10 minutes before the event:

VENUS APRIL6.jpg

Next shot, a highly processed image showing the thin limb of the Moon next to Venus:

MoonOccVenus.jpg

And a sequence presenting the ingress:

Sequance.jpg

And the animation for the ingress:

OccMoonVen.gif

2 Replies to “Daytime lunar occultation of Venus – April 6, 2016”

  1. Amazing feat, Maximilian! Daytime imaging, with the Sun this close, risks your equipment, not to talk about your eyesight… A real act of courage, planning and competence. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Thank you Almir! The danger is indeed one factor, but if one spends enough time with daytime imaging (inner planets, the Sun) the risks are well known and care is like second nature. The true problem rises from the poor conditions that can make imaging such events like occultations quite difficult. If Venus would have been closer to inner conjunction for example, it would have been a much nicer view…Next time perhaps.

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