Venus and Jupiter conjunction

Walking out of the house yesterday evening, I was greeted with this sight in the sky:

Venus appears larger and brighter than Jupiter in the evening sky. I framed the photo using our Narra tree and the building under construction across from our home. I didn't need any filters for the shot as there were no streetlights or other significant lighting that affected the photo.

The view could have been more spectacular if there was no construction across from our house. 

[I will write about the construction across our home another time. It's a good topic especially in light of the commercial developments sprouting inside our village.] 

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Looking for a comet after sunset

I was looking forward to catching a glimpse of a comet that's supposed to be visible to the naked eye after sunset. Unfortunately, the weather had not cooperated and it was usually cloudy during and after sunset when the comet was supposed to be most visible. Still, the sunset provided this splendid cityscape.

The photo was taken from one of the remaining vantage points from our village. Soon, the place may no longer accessible. I saw the adjacent lot was already being cleared and probably for construction of a new house.

 

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On the night sky and chasing comets

This month, there were opportunities to see a comet without the aid of any telescope. The last time that happened was during the peak of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2020. Unfortunately, this was not to be again as we had mostly cloudy skies and I just couldn't have it clear enough to see the comet. Instead, I got these photos of the sunset and clouds shrouding the super moon.

Sunset and the western sky

Super moon a couple of weeks ago - obscured by clouds

Pecular clouds surrounding the super moon framed by our Narra and Mango trees

I am not certain there will be another opportunity to see a comet in the future but the night sky has always been fascinating and has provided unique images such as these photos.

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Happy New Year 2021!

We were already anticipating the alignment or conjunction (to be more accurate) of Jupiter and Saturn considering this to be a very rare event. The last time this happened was about 800 years ago and previous to that, the light from the conjunction is believed to have produced what could have been the Christmas Star or the Star of Bethlehem. Here is a photo taken a couple of weeks before the conjunction taken near our home and with the trees of a nearby lot framing the planets. The conjunction event passed and the trees are no more as the lot where they were had been cleared in preparation for near future construction of a new house.

Jupiter and Saturn a week before the conjunction

Nature, and as 2020 would have it, had different plans as it was cloudy and rainy the night of the conjunction. We never got to see it from where we were. This was the second major astronomical event we missed this year, the other being the comet Neowise, which we missed viewing due to the lockdown (we couldn't get to a location where we could have seen it).

Well, 2020 is no more and we welcome 2021 and all the hope this New Year brings given all the trials and tribulations of the past year. I wish everyone a healthy, safe, peaceful and prosperous 2021!

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A glimpse of the flower moon

I usually wake up early. It is automatic for me whatever time I go to sleep at night, I will wake up around 5AM. Whether I decide to sleep again or not is up to me. These days though, I make sure I get up to start my day for the designated market or grocery days. What used to be 7 days in a week that we are supposed to be able to go out was reduced to 3 and now 2 days as we approached what seems or seemed to be the homestretch of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). I, however, go out usually only twice a week. The usual day I go to the market, I am there by 5:30 AM so I can avoid the crowds and the summer heat. 

That was exactly why I was able to capture this shot of the last super moon of the year, which is also called the Flower Moon or May's full moon. Here it is at 5:15 AM last Friday morning.

Flower moon at 5:15 AM, May 8, 2020

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Moonrise in Antipolo

I have posted a lot about the sun (sunrises and sunsets) but seldom about the moon. Last weekend presented an opportunity to take a few photos of the moon as it rose from the mountains of Antipolo, Rizal. I thought the rise of the full moon was made more dramatic by the trees that almost obscured the view from our home.

Here are some photos of the moonrise I took with my iPhone 6. I initially tried to get a photo using my trusty Canon Ixus, a very good point and shoot. The requirements (read: adjustments to the camera settings) though to make a good photo didn't allow me time for something that was going to happen over a few seconds. It was a good decision to use the smartphone instead. There are no filters, modifications or enhancements to the following photos of the moonrise.

A friend commented on the same photos that I posted on social media and said that they seemed eerie because of the effect the dark tree branches had. I replied that I saw that immediately before I took the photos. This was deliberate on my part as it was part of the composition, this eerie sort of creepy subject of the full moon. Now I look forward to more moonrise photos.

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