Comments on: Moon and Venus

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 18:32:43 +0000

That is a very cool pic.

BTW, Harold and Grand Lunar, I think it’s an old moon. It was taken from Hungary (northern hemisphere), and the moon orbits anti-clockwise as viewed from above the north pole.

By: Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 04:35:26 +0000

BA:
I thought the albedo of the moon was closer to 10%- fr some reason I remember the highlands as .12 and the mare as .08. Are those numbers wrong?

Donnie B.
If you want to convince yourself that the moon is dark, try this trick:

1. get a camera with manual exposure, a light meter, and the biggest lens you can afford.

2. Go outside on a bright sunny day, point your camera at some asphalt, and record the light meter reading for the exposure time most appropriate for blacktop.

3. Using that exposure setting, take a picture of the moon at night.

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:20:15 +0000

That’s gotta be one of the most incredible photo shots ever. I just had to download this to my system. Think I’ll print off a few copies and show them around work.

Thanks BA,that was great.

GAry 7

By: Jack Hagerty

Jack Hagerty — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 07:07:28 +0000

I’ve got another new wallpaper! Seems to happen every other week or so.

- Jack

By: Evolving Squid

Evolving Squid — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 06:42:12 +0000

Awesome pic!

By: Frank Stratford

Frank Stratford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:36:34 +0000

Even though I’m an avid Mars fan the only planet I have managed to spot is Venus, and I even got take a digital photo of it. Spectacular sight it was. But to get Venus and the Moon is a real bonus.

By: The Bad Astronomer

The Bad Astronomer — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 03:07:41 +0000

The average albedo (reflectivity) of the Moon is around 17%, and Venus is more like 90. So yes.

By: Elwood Herring

Elwood Herring — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 02:01:46 +0000

… However on closer examination of the image , it would appear to be nothing more than a by-product of jpeg image compression!

The Ashen Light phenomenon is real though, and has been seen and debated for hundreds of years apparently.

By: Elwood Herring

Elwood Herring — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 01:59:01 +0000

George: That may be what’s called the “Ashen Light”. It was discussed by Patrick Moore on his TV programme a couple of nights ago here in cloudy wet England, and is thought to be the actual heat glow from the planet’s surface – although how that can be seen through the thick Venusian clouds is a problem I’ll leave to someone else.

By: Grand Lunar

Grand Lunar — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:11:08 +0000

Awesome!

I think that’s a young moon, Harold.

By: Harold

Harold — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:03:10 +0000

Wow. That is one young moon. Or old. Any idea what the angular distance from the Sun to the Moon was when this was taken?

By: Donnie B.

Donnie B. — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:56:31 +0000

Wow!

I’ve never seen an image that included both the Moon and Venus at the same scale. To be honest, I’m astonished that the crescent of Venus is so large.

Also, is the albedo of the Moon so much less than that of Venus? The relative dimness of the lunar crescent is also amazing. (Yes, I know about specular reflection and shadow masking, which make the full moon so bright compared with other phases… but still, the Moon is a LOT closer than Venus!)

By: George

George — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:54:11 +0000

That’s almost freaky! What a shot! I know it must be psychological, but Venus looks like it has Earth shine such that I see, kinda, a disk for Venus.