Amazing Sky by Alan Dyer

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Occultation of Mars (Feb 18, 2020).jpg

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My valiant attempt to record the occultation of Mars in the morning twilight on February 18, 2020, in shots taken just after Mars emerged from behind the Moon.

However, the sky was very hazy and the Moon very fuzzy. Look closely! Mars is to the right of the Moon at 2 o’clock roughly, and just barely shows up as a fuzzy glow — it was not even visible in binoculars as it was too dimmed by the clouds. But the longer exposures of the camera managed to pick it up.

I was lucky to get even this poor view, as the forecast was for complete overcast, and indeed 15 minutes later thicker clouds moved in and hid the Moon completely. And it as -20° C this morning amid another short cold snap.

This is a blend of 6s and 1.6s exposures (the shorter for the crescent Moon) at f/2.8 with the 85mm Rokinon lens and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 200.
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© 2020 Alan Dyer
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www.amazingsky.photoshelter.com
Contained in galleries
Moon & Sun, Conjunctions
My valiant attempt to record the occultation of Mars in the morning twilight on February 18, 2020, in shots taken just after Mars emerged from behind the Moon. <br /> <br /> However, the sky was very hazy and the Moon very fuzzy. Look closely! Mars is to the right of the Moon at 2 o’clock roughly, and just barely shows up as a fuzzy glow — it was not even visible in binoculars as it was too dimmed by the clouds. But the longer exposures of the camera managed to pick it up. <br /> <br /> I was lucky to get even this poor view, as the forecast was for complete overcast, and indeed 15 minutes later thicker clouds moved in and hid the Moon completely. And it as -20° C this morning amid another short cold snap. <br /> <br /> This is a blend of 6s and 1.6s exposures (the shorter for the crescent Moon) at f/2.8 with the 85mm Rokinon lens and Canon 6D MkII at ISO 200.