Kudos to Venus for 2004: As if the first transit in 122 years wasn't enough, Venus shown brilliantly through our evening and morning twilights. Here are some notes from my recent attempts to catch Venus in the morning sky.

• Sunday 11/7 4:30 am – I set my alarm early to see what’s up with the Venus-Jupiter conjunction. Walked down to the boat ramp for a good, low eastern horizon over Red Mill Pond. Nice and clear. Got nice shots with my Olympus 3020 digicam; not APOD material, but a start. Normally skyglow ruins astrophotos, but it just looks like twilight here, silhouetting houses and trees across the pond. I’m definitely astrophoto-rusty though: nearly missed the shot because of low batteries, and I couldn’t get the tripod's "quick release" to attach in the dark. Two hikes back to the house, and I still left the red flashlight back home. Most shots were spoiled by camera movement.

• Monday 11/8 4:30 am – Let’s try this again: this time from the backyard. Camera settings are now pre-programmed: ISO 800, noise reduction “on,” manual focus (infinity), SHQ means 2048 x 1536 pixels. Check. Exposures between 10 and 16 seconds look fine when previewed, so I adjusted the composition by zooming in a bit. Trio framed by neighbor’s trees, but it’s too chilly to wait for Venus to clear tree line. High clouds are a nice touch. Surprisingly obvious how Venus and Jupiter have drawn apart in just 24 hours, while the Moon falls downward toward the planet duo. Better tripod ensures stars are dots.

• Tuesday 11/9 4:50 am – Back to the pond—I like that composition much better. Breaking the rule of thirds—never put the horizon in the middle—for the mirror image. Reflection of this brilliant trio in the pond adds depth and symmetry. Tiny ripples in the otherwise calm pond distort the Moon and planets—cool effect, but crisper reflections look much better. The time exposures I’ve used way overexpose the Moon: the crescent phase is invisible, but I do pick up surrounding stars and wispy clouds. A fair swap.

• Wednesday 11/10 4:30 am – Very nice arrangement: the Moon, Venus and Jupiter arc gently upward. When reflected in the pond: a very cool composition. Looks like the Earth is in perfect alignment too, and the distance to each increases dramatically moving away from the center of the frame. Stars of the constellation of Virgo are scattered about—immensely farther away, they form the cosmic backdrop. This one will do.

I'm still trying for the perfect planet shot: Venus, Jupiter, the Moon and the stars of Virgo next appear together in the evening sky of early September ’05.

Moondark is written by Doug Miller, published at the Moondark web site, and printed in the Delmarva Star Gazers' Star Gazer News. This document was last revised on 21 November 2004. Text and images copyright © 2004 by Douglas C. Miller, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without prior permission.