The Planet Venus ... The 2nd Planet from the Sun



The Planet Venus
January 28, 2020 ... This is that BRIGHT 'Star' in the SW evening sky on this date ... I took this picture with the 11" Celestron EdgeHD telescope at a setting of f/10. As you can see, (or can't see) that this planet has no visible features as it is totally encased with a thick atmosphere of clouds and a surface temperature around 850°F (454°C). The planet also shows a 'Gibbous' shape similar to the phases that we see with the moon. This shape will slowly wane over the next several month to a 'Half' Venus, then a 'Crescent' Venus in late spring.. It's bright now but it will get even brighter over the next several months.

Also see some past images of Venus that I took.

Imaging process: I used the best 500 frames from 3,000 and stacked them in a program called AutoStakkert! 2.6.8 then post processed the output in Photoshop CC. The camera used was the Altair Hypercam 294C Pro TEC I used a Baader UV/IR-Cut Light Pollution Filter

Techy Stuff:
Telescope: Celestron Edge HD at f/10
Mount: Celestron CGX
Camera: Altair-Hypercam 294 Pro TEC One-Shot-Color CMOS
Capture software: SharpCap Pro 3.1
Number of Frames in .ser FIT file: 3,000
Stacking Program: AutoStakkert! 2.6.8
Used best 500 of the aligned 3,000 frames for stacking
Post Processed in Photoshop CC
Seeing Conditions: 8 (0-10, where 0 is total cloud cover)
Location: Backyard, Savannah GA


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