Yesterday morning I hauled myself out of bed at 0330 hoping to get some photos of the occultation of Venus, and the Lyrid meteor shower. No luck on the meteors, but I shot almost 200 photos of Venus passing behing the moon. I was a mess all day for lack of sleep, but it was worth it. Here's a sample...
If you look close, you can see that Venus is also a crescent.
There she goes...
...and here she is an hour later, in the early morning light...
Dave, you are wonderful for providing these photos. I have also been watching Venus closely and yes did actually see the pre-daylight view exactly as your last photo shows it. I honestly wasn't aware of the occultation which had occured earlier.
Now, here is a question for you. Why, since Venus is crescent at this time, is it so extremely bright? Especially this morning, it was even brighter than yesterday.
Also, we should be able to see Jupiter just before sunrise, but I have not been able to see it at all since last fall. I know that it was behind the sun for the period from December to early February, but it should be visible by now.
Dear Dave,
What a good reason to be tired all day! Thank you for sharing these shots with us. I will show 'em to my resident astronomer. Although he hasn't taken any photos yet this season he is building a couple of new telescopes.He and 3 friends are each making a copy of Gallileo's telescope......to see the planets as he saw them.
It is great to share what you love with others.....thank you for sharing these with us!
Love,Mary
"Now, here is a question for you. Why, since Venus is crescent at this time, is it so extremely bright? Especially this morning, it was even brighter than yesterday.
Also, we should be able to see Jupiter just before sunrise, but I have not been able to see it at all since last fall. I know that it was behind the sun for the period from December to early February, but it should be visible by now."
Berry, I'd have to guess that Venus is close to us right now. A few years ago Mars was extremely bright for that reason. It's a good question though, and I'm not sure.
Jupiter's where it always has been. Right now it is rising about 2 hours before dawn. I shot a couple photos of it yesterday, but it just looks like a star. Mars is out in the morning too. It was below Venus yesterday. Here's the best I could do yesterday with Jupiter...
Ok, I guess that I am looking too low in the east. I was guessing that what is probably Jupiter was Sirius. That is the second brightest body in the sky in the morning higher and farther to the south from Venus. Thanks Dave for pointing this out. Great pic of Jupiter by the way.
This reminded me of something Gregg Braden said (back in the 90's), that the Sun is cooling while the planets are heating up. And that the sun's magnetic polarity is diminishing, as is the earth's right now, while the cavity resonance (Schumann Resonance) has moved from it's 7.83 norm to about 8.5, but that was something he said back in '96 so does anyone know where the Schumann base resonant frequency of the planet is right now (as it moves toward no magnetic field and 13 hertz some are calling zero point?) That has to mean that electromagnetic behavior is primary and "radiant" thermodynamic convection is secondary, doesn't it??? But that's a whole nother subject... I have noticed something very subtle about the shining sun lately too. Cannot put my finger on it, but childlike intuitive simplicity would have me saying it "feels" like it is friendlier somehow, more benevolent and more inviting aesthetically lately. My experience a few years ago was that it felt almost threatening to be in the sunlight too long, like I was being cooked in a microwave. We are also in the photon belt we enter every 26,000 years. That may have something to do with it....
LLP, Chris
Chris,
In response to your question regarding the current Schumann Resonance Frequency, it is somewhere between 11 and 12 hz. I recall reading something to that effect in one David Wilcock's articles but did a search and found that this is where it is at this point. Awful close to 13!