Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Lunar Venus Conjunction


Was lucky to get break in the clouds to view a daytime crescent Moon and Venus come together April 22, added bonus... clouds, in just the right amount to add atmosphere. They, the clouds rolled back in just before the occultation, that is when the Moon actually covered Venus, but a daytime conjunction of the Crescent Moon and Venus is still a pretty picture.

That's not all, the Pleiades and little Mercury were and are as we speak also in conjunction very cool.



Click on the conjunction link above, it is the best description of a celestial conjunction ever, a conjunction is basically a temporary close gathering of two or more celestial bodies. To see the conjunction look to the west about an hour after Sunset, you'll see Mercury, as it will be the brightest object in the lower west sky, just above Mercury will be the Pleiades. They will be getting closer together till April 30, at which time they will start pulling away from each other, and drawing closer to the glare of our Sun, grab some binoculars if you can, the Pleiades are awesome through them.


From conjunctions to cats. When I first pulled up to the Marsden Hotel , where I was staying for the meteorite search, a cat ran up to me and rubbed against my legs...hey what can I say, some guys are chick magnets.... I'm a cat magnet, they love me , I love them. Anyways, 7 am the next morning there was a meowing at my window, the town cat was back, I let her in and we had tea, and surfed the net before the meteorite search, that's right, the Marsden hotel had high speed wireless internet technology.

I have been concerned about whether or not I'd be able to find wireless in China so as to post from there.... well if Marsden has wireless in their hotel, population 294, I'm pretty sure they have the technology over in Shanghai with a population of 14.6 million, I'm hoping in their Hotel rooms.

I'll leave you now with an animation of the Mercury/Pleiades encounter.

Celestial Conjunctions,Mercury,Pleiades

44 comments:

Stephanie Barr said...

Cool pics - you know I love the daytime moon and star, and even the cat.

(I miss my cat :( )

I always love what you come up with

Daisy said...

That kitty was very friendly! You were nice to spend some time together with him.

Ivanhoe said...

I'll be looking toward west tonight to locate the conjuction - thanks for the tip.
Yup, looks like you are the cat whisperer :o)

Sherer said...

Mr Johnson king of astronomy pictures! Very cool post. I really like conjunctions here. Especially the Pledaies Mercury thats a beautiful shot. Mercury looked brilliant in your camera.

Thanks man!

Jesse

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Stephanie, I will miss mine too, she is getting up there, a good companion.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Daisy, she was very friendly, you two would have gotten along famously.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Hi Ivanhoe,hope you have a clear horizon tonight, get binocs if possible, the Pleiades in binoculars are very stunning.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Jesse, they do make a great couple don't they, lol,and Mercury always a pleasure to capture when it strays from the glare of the Sun.\m/\m/

Marvin said...

What a collection, all in the sky at once! Wonderful!

And what a pretty kitty! It makes me miss my cats at home.

Lynda Lehmann said...

Gorgeous stuff, Bob! I guess the little kitty you befriended wants to learn about the stars. Did she enjoy her tea? :)

(A chick magnet, okay...but a cat magnet? lol...)

When are you going to China?

I could climb into those GIFs and curl up to sleep and dream!

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Marvin, it was cool while I was away to visit with a cat that looked and reminded me so much of my cat.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Lynda, we had a nice tea. I go July 15 to China, I have a countdown timer on the top of my blog, 77 days to departure. I'm glad you feel the same way I do about the animations, very soothing.\m/\m/

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

Bob, love the photos!!! Don't clouds make a a photo pop!!!

How marvelous you let the cat in. Jeff and I have done that too.:D

Perhaps McDonald's has WI-FI in China. You could query them.

Just sent in my second contract. I'll reveal more about this book soon. :D It's an OMG moment.

Hugs, JJ

Ruth said...

Oh I love that silvery, skinny slice of moon in the top photo, love it.

Cat magnet, eh? Teehee.

I hope you will have internet in China.

TatianaV said...

Great captures of the sky views Bob, and loved the mood and the color, and than the animation too... And the one with your cat is sweet :)

Will said...

Hey Bob I really like that daytime Moon and Venus shot! You know I still use that lake photo of yours on the desktop of one of my computers.

A cat magnet. That's cool, I guess. I am the other kind you mention....... I wish!

We are really getting to depend on that high speed internet. If my cell company's wireless was a little faster, I would get the service from them and have it almost anywhere I go. Not up to the speed of my cable yet though.

Noni said...

nice site....informative...great pics

tag u to my site

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Ruth, I'm hoping for internet in China as well, they are supposed to be more technically advanced over there, more so then Marsden I would think,lol.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Tatiana, nice to see you here again.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Will, very cool you are using the lake photo. I have totally forgotten about it till now, thanks I'll have to search it down, it was one of my fav all time shots back in the day,lol

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks noni, and thanks for dropping by.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks JJ, I will inquire right now about the WI-FI, good idea.Good luck on your OMG moment!\m/\m/

Swubird said...

Bob:

Thanks a lot for the tip on how to spot mercury. We'll check it out. Great images to illustrate your point.

Be careful in China. I hear that they have a lot of restrictions on Internet use.

Good luck. have fun, and remember...

happy trails.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks swubird, I am checking on the internet usage right now, should know soon.\m/\m/

betchai said...

i missed those, but at least, i have your beautiful pictures to look at, hope you have a great time in China.

Rose DesRochers said...

Bob, the first picture is pretty. The way you captured it looks very mystical.

franx said...

Nice shot of the moon Bob. You never miss of the great moment in the universe. All the best for you Bob

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks betchai, I'm hoping with this new pandemic the trip will still be allowed in July.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks a lot Rose, clouds always make the picture don't they.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks and good to see you again Franx.\m/\m/

S-V-H said...

I liked your cat story, Bob! :)

and don't worry about Shanghai, they will have not only wireless, they will have maybe also cats...living I mean...LOL..

Nice post as always and have a great trip!
Susanne

kRiZcPEc said...

They may have wifi, only that there might be some trouble using blogger in China, no one knows for sure what is banned from the GFW.
I'd be patient to see the images you take during the trip to China. Take care.:)

Bob Johnson said...

Lol Susanne, living cats, that is too cool.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks for the info and heads up kRiZ cPEc, I just heard that some of the hotels I'll be in do have wifi.\m/\m/

MYM said...

LOL @ the cat - you're too darn cute!

Love that photos of the daytime crescent moon - wow! Spectacular.

Bob Johnson said...

Lol, thanks Drowsey.\m/\m/

myonlyphoto said...

Bob lol you said: 'guys are chick magnets.... I'm a cat magnet, they love me , I love them' - ohhhh this is so so cute, lol. BTW I think you may have internet in China. When I was in Japan few years ago, I had internet connection no problem, and it was inky-dinky small town too. Anna :)

Genie said...

That's hysterical, and awesome that you invited it in to hang out with you.

The daytime crescent moon shot is especially lovely!

Anonymous said...

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I would appreciate if someone here at blackholesandastrostuff.blogspot.com could post it.

Thanks,
Peter

Anonymous said...

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May I use some of the information from your post above if I give a backlink back to this website?

Thanks,
Mark

Anonymous said...

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