Another Conjunction of the Moon and Venus
Forrest M. Mims III
There have been several beautiful conjunctions of the moon and Venus and even Jupiter in recent months. One of these was featured in the March 2009 "Gallery," which noted, "But none were as spectacular as the conjunction of the moon and Venus after sunset on 27 February."
Figure 1. Conjunction of the moon and Venus on 22 April 2009. Photograph by Forrest M. Mims III.
Yet an even more spectacular conjunction of these two bodies occurred shortly after sunset on 22 April 2009. Indeed, the conjunction became an eclipse when viewed from the Western US as the moon slowly occulted Venus.
According to Chris Peat's Heavens Above, the moon's diameter was 31.19 minutes that night. This means that the closest edge of the crescent moon was only about 15.5 minutes (about a quarter of a degree) from Venus.
The photograph was made with a Canon 40D SLR through a 100 mm lens at f/9.1. The exposure duration was 1/2 second. White balance was set for sunlight. The photo is cropped but otherwise straight from the camera.
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The Citizen Scientist (05 June 2009).
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