Mercury and Venus in Twilight
Taken by Alan Dyer on May 2, 2015 @
near Drumheller, Alberta
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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS 6D
Exposure Time: 4/1
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 800
Date Taken: 2015:05:03 11:22:03
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Details:
It was a very clear evening for sighting Mercury, now at its best as an evening star for northern hemisphere observers. On May 2, I shot Mercury low in the evening twilight, with brilliant Venus shining high above it, from sites in the Red Deer River valley of southern Alberta. The photos show the relative brightness of the two inner planets and their altitude above the horizon, with Mercury never straying too far from the Sun nor getting very high, even at its best as it is now. By contrast, Venus stands high, bright and obvious. Indeed, it is now about as high at it will get this season, at least from my western Canadian latitude. While it reaches its greatest angle away from the Sun a month from now in June, by then the ecliptic is tilting down toward the horizon, lowering Venus in altitude despite its greater angular separation from the Sun. The first photo shows the two planets over the Red Deer River while the second shows them over the historic Atlas Coal Mine, a historic site and museum, preserving the last of the coal mines that used to be numerous in the river valley.
Photographer's website:
http://www.amazingsky.net
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