Conjunction: December 1, 2002 Venus, Mars, & The Moon

Lesson Learned! Digital cameras don't like the cold! I went out to Warsaw Park, in Ansonia, CT, at about 3:30am to catch the rise of this excellent triad. It was about 28-30*F, & the wind was about 10-15 mph. In a word-- FRRRIGID!!! After a while the camnera simply refused to stay powered on, even after having warmed it up in the car once, & then the batteries got too cold to produce juice. Not before I squeezed off a few nice shots though.

This first shot was not long after the conjunction's rise. For those who might not know, the reddish 'star' is Mars, & the bright one below it is Venus. Near the top-right shines Spica, in the constellation Virgo. In the middle shot, I tried to dim down the light settings somewhat, & was able to get some halfway decent detail from earthshine on the moon's dark side. Finally, the bottom shot was taken from my front porch, after I came home. Dawn was looming, & Mars wasn't coming through quite so well, but it shows how the moon's right-to-left progression during the event.