Solar System
“The solar system should be viewed as our backyard, not as some sequence of destinations that we do one at a time.”— Neil deGrasse Tyson
An image captured in Dover, UK of setting moon during Winter.
Usually I prefer photographing Moon as it rises or set. On this day I stayed longer as I wanted to capture the moon with the Yacht. It turned out to be a great photo. Loved the simplicity ..! .
Our planetary neighbors are around us all the time. Their paths around Sun sometimes bring them closer to us from our view-point from the earth. These alignments are called ‘conjunctions’. This photo shows a conjunction of Venus and Jupiter captured in pre-dawn hours of a cold January day from south coast of UK . Speaking of cold, I’m sure you could see ice crystals in the foreground by the waterflow.
Flamborough Particularly for moon photography one advantage of summer months is that moon rises during twilight; while there is reasonable amount of ambient light. This gives unique photo opportunities. ‘Seven-sisters’ beach in southern UK is one of my favorite places for photography due to its very unique landscape. In this evening the transient light made the chalk cliffs glow; with the rising moon it was fascinating to watch.
Captured in photo is moon in ‘penumbra’ state photographed in south coast of UK during a Partial Lunar Eclipse in July, 2019. Light house made this a very pleasant scenery and the haze in the sky just at the right time was the ‘cherry on top’.
Conjunctions are always fascinating. I love visualizing in 3D as to how one planet gets to a very special place in its path around sun to pair up with another celestial object, as we see it. This particular evening it was the thin crescent moon pairing up with Venus. Lighthouse in far distance is almost acting as a watch-post.
Its very difficult to put scales in astronomy in to context with what we are used to. In picture is planet Mercury transiting Sun. The little dot on the right is Mercury; a planet 38% of the size of the earth silhouetted by Sun. Sun is also further 57.9 million km away from earth relative to Mercury. Never ever before I’ve been able to ascertain the mightiness of Sun like this .
Thin crescent Moon ‘sandwiched’ by Jupiter and Venus, captured in south coast of UK in January, 2019. Not too often we get the chance to see a transit like this, very close to being symmetrical. The pier acts like its reaching out to welcome the celestial event.
Telecom transmission tower sandwiched between moon and Venus ..! Conjunctions of celestial objects are always fascinating to watch; earthly elements adding to the scene makes it even better. Image was captured in Hampshire, UK.
I always wanted to capture Lunar Corona but didn’t get an opportunity till this date. It was November full moon; conditions were cloudy but around about 9 pm clouds eased enough to create this pattern of colorful rings. Beautiful to watch.
Some years bright planets dominate night skys. This year (2021) its Jupiter's turn. Reaching position in summer, Jupiter was visible whole night. In image is Lulworth Cove captured in early hours of an August morning with Jupiter lined up perfectly with the cove blending beautifully with color tones of blue hour.
Flamborough lighthouse with full moon. The plan was to capture the moon bit lower in the sky but the band of clouds didn’t allow that although I ended up loving the moon ‘peeping’ from the clouds.
Holding the Shine
Sometimes, its amazing to see shapes of nature weaving patterns that resembles things in day-to-day life. Like in this case, its almost like the cove is holding the reflection of the moon.
Shown in picture is a conjunction of Moon and Venus captured in Wales, UK. Foggy conditions made the scene heavenly.