Rare night

Sunday night was a rare one... clear, dark... couldn't pass it up so I went out to the observatory to image some asteroids (no luck on those). While there I also took some sky shots.

This shows Gemini with Mars just to the left of Castor and Pollux. They look like they're in a straight line almost (Mars -- Pollux -- Castor). Well Mars is moving and the alignment will change over the coming weeks. In the full size image, you can also see M44, the Beehive Cluster, in the upper left.

Fri (9 May) evening, the crescent moon will be below Mars. For some parts of the world, the moon will occult (eclipse) Mars during the night (but it won't be visible from east coast USA). Saturday evening, the waxing crescent moon will be above Mars and just below the cluster (use binoculars).

Although the sky is slowly setting, Mars is drifting east. On May 19, Mars will be at the corner of Cancer. And over the next several nights, it will drift through the small constellation and through the Beehive Cluster. That will be a nice photo op!

Image details...
Camera: Canon 20Da, f/5.6, ISO 800
Date/Time: 5/4/2008 9:34:48 PM
Exposure: 10sec
Lens: 17.0 - 85.0mm at 38.0mm