AndrΓ©Feb 19
TomKrajci πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ πŸ³οΈβ€βš§οΈ

The young crescent moon occulted Mercury today...as seen from the mountains of southern New Mexico.

First photo is a telephoto shot of the moon only a minute after it uncovered our innermost planet. This was taken in bright twilight as a wind and dust storm was easing up.

Second photo is a wider angle shot ten minutes later that includes Venus in the bottom third of the frame. The evening twilight sky colors are pallid because of the dust storm clouds billowing a mile below me on the floor of the Tularosa basin.

#Mercury #Moon #Crescent #Occult #Occultation #Astronomy #Twilight #Evening #Photography #Astrophotography

Feb 19 at 3:03amWeb
Show threadglasspshrFeb 19
@KrajciTom nice, tom! Cloudy here
Show threadzl2todFeb 19

@KrajciTom

Perhaps not a good day to attack Iran.

Show threadTomKrajci πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ πŸ³οΈβ€βš§οΈFeb 19

@zl2tod

I graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1987. During my first year, as part of a math course on probability...we read an article that analyzed that ill-fated 1979 rescue attempt. It looked at readiness rates for helicopters and other phases and aspects of the mission, and offered up some planning guidelines using probability theory.

Mid-career I was stationed at a B-52 base. That ancient weapons platform often struggled with decent operational readiness rates.

Since then, I've been known to mutter: "If you want six over the target, you need eight in the air. If you want eight in the air, you need to start engines on ten."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Claw

Wind and dust storms today? They make grass fires like the Ranger Road fire in Oklahoma possible. I watched the IR signature from weather satellite images. An Olympic athlete would not be able to outrun that advancing wall of flame...it was too fast, and went way too far.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.9957533,-100.6523499,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!21m1!1s%2Fg%2F11yzw5d4h6!5m1!1e8?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDIxNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

#Math #Probability #Statistics #Planning #Olympics

Show threadzl2todFeb 19

@KrajciTom

And then there's the whole hearts and minds thing of attacking at the start of Ramadan. It would be like attacking the west on a major religious festival like Christmas or Easter.

Show threadReinald KirchnerFeb 19
@KrajciTom beautiful. Thx. For sharing.
Show threadPaolo AmorosoFeb 19
@KrajciTom Spectacular.
Show threadSimon I GrooveFeb 19
@KrajciTom Beautiful! All we had in #Albuquerque were drizzly skies and wind. I'm grateful you shared.
Show threadJer 🚲Feb 19
@KrajciTom Very cool.
Show threadGraeme 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Feb 19
@KrajciTom Lovely images... Glad someone has a clear sky!
Show threadguntbertFeb 19
@KrajciTom great shots, thanks for sharing 🀩
Show threadJimFeb 19
@KrajciTom
Great capture, thanks for the share!
Show threadnellie-mFeb 19

@KrajciTom @sundogplanets

wow, those are really cool! Thank you for letting us participate in that special moment!

Show threadTomKrajci πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ πŸ³οΈβ€βš§οΈFeb 19

@nellie_m @sundogplanets

Thanks! I'm glad you like the photos. It was very windy and cold...after a few photos my fingers were numb, lol! Without binoculars, I was able to see Mercury as a separate star next to the moon, but my eyes were tearing up from the cold wind.

Show threadglasspshrFeb 19
@KrajciTom Tom, what scope did you use on the close up?
Show threadTomKrajci πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ πŸ³οΈβ€βš§οΈFeb 19

@glasspusher

I used this lens:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/542154-USA/Pentax_21760_SMCP_DA_300mm_f_4_ED.html

...and a matching Pentax 1.4 DA 1.4x converter to get about 420mm.

This lens is meant for SLR bodies, and my body is a mirrorless Sony, so I needed an adapter for spacing and to go from the Pentax (K?) mount to the Sony E mount.

It's a heavy lens, and in this rig it's manual focus and aperture. That's ok, I only shoot astro stuff with it.

But it's a surprisingly sharp lens. I really don't see any sharpness gains when I stop it down.

Yesterday evening the jet stream core was overhead. Focusing on the crescent moon was amusing. It looked like it was under a stream of water. Best focus found? Ummmm, yeah, sort of.

Pentax SMCP-DA* 300mm f/4 ED (IF) SDM Autofocus Lens for Digital SLR

Buy Pentax SMCP-DA* 300mm f/4 ED (IF) SDM Autofocus Lens for Digital SLR featuring Weather & Dust Resistant. Review Pentax null

Show threadglasspshrFeb 19
@KrajciTom nice! I recently bought a Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 and was impressed by the sharpness as well
Show threadDavid ALBERTOFeb 20
@KrajciTom Amazing shot!