Most people are unaware, but there’s a comet in our neighborhood. Comet Lulin made its closest approach to Earth yesterday, February 24, 2009. While only viewable unaided in very dark skies, it was (and still is) viewable with binoculars.

The wife and I decided to head out into the Texas Hill Country to see if we could find it, and maybe grab a picture or two. We went west on RR1431 until we found a spot off the road about ten miles east of Marble Falls, Texas.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had quite a few people ask me, “What’s that incredibly bright star in the western sky just after sunset?”
Actually, it’s no star. It’s our sister planet Venus, and she’s so bright because she’s relatively close to us right now.
We are still getting closer, so Venus will gain in brightness [...]

This previous Saturday was a perigee full moon. This is a full moon that corresponds with the moon being at the closest point of its elliptical orbit. Such a moon is 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than a typical full moon.

So, I headed down to campus to, well, shoot the moon.

My hope was to frame the moon alongside the UT Tower. I got down there before sunset, in the hopes that I would get a nice orange sunset to shoot as well.

The skies Monday night were clear as could be for the convergence of the three brightest objects in the night sky, the Moon, Venus and Jupiter.

That’s Venus at six o’clock and Jupiter at four o’clock. Obviously, the Moon is at eleven o’clock.
I shot in a part of my Cedar Park subdivision that is only partially [...]

For those that don’t know, there is an interesting convergence of celestial objects occurring right now. The two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, have been moving closer and closer together over the last few weeks. Tonight and tomorrow night, they are only two degrees apart.
It was a tough night for astrophotography. The convergence occurs just [...]

If you’ve been watching the skies for the last few weeks, you’ve seen an interesting show just after sunset. The two brightest stars in our sky, Venus and Jupiter, have been getting closer and closer.
The highlight will be December 1st when a waxing crescent moon joins the show.
I’ll be shooting both November 30th and December [...]