Occultation of Venus by the Moon
Sketch and Details by Deirdre Kelleghan
Meade LX 90 FL 2000mm
35mm eyepiece = 57X
Dec 1st 2008 – Greystones Co Wicklow Ireland
Freezing
Pastels/Conte on FineArt Pastel Velour Paper
15:35 – 17:10 approx too cold to time with any great regard
Venus was shining like a million dollar jewel in the early evening sky.
The young moon hung low in milky blue atmosphere, giant Jupiter watched the
visually stunning occultation unfolding below.
As it got darker more and more detail became visible on the crescent moon.
Between finishing the Venus vanishing sketch and the reemergence of Venus
I put as much lunar detail as possible in the time and under the conditions as I could.
The view as Venus reappeared and once again sparkled like a diamond stuck on the moon was breathtaking .
I quickly place the planet as accurately as I could and then continued to enjoy the view
along with my fellow observers, Michael, Philip, Aubrey, and Keith, awesome afternoon.
Deirdre Kelleghan
President
Irish Astronomical Society 1937 – 2007
Public Relations Officer IFAS
Oscail do Shuile D’iontas na Cruinne
Open Your Eyes to the Wonder of the Universe
Dee,
I’m speechless.
Frank 🙂
Hi Dee,
I had to watch it by live web cast run by Peter Grego (Cornwall UK) as we were clouded out in the SE of the UK. You have captured the moment perfectly as Silver Venus reapeared.My 2 young sons and I were riveted to the monitor eagerly awaiting every 20 second frame refresh to catch the first hint, it was very exciting. You have a beautiful personal record there, which I envy, very well done indeed :O)
Dale
Dee,
Beautiful indeed. Your technique is impressive and it inspires me.