Venus

1/30 second exposure, Kodak Tri-X 400 film.
5" f/5 refractor plus 6mm orthoscopic eyepiece and 50mm f/1.8 Yashica lens.

In late November 1978, I had been observing all night and was just about to pack in when I noticed Venus rising in the dawn twilight. I decided to have a look and saw the planet as a very thin, but very large cresent so I grabbed the camera and took this photograph. It was the thinest that I have ever seen the planet.

1/30 second exposure, Kodak Tri-X 400 film.
5" f/5 refractor plus 9mm orthoscopic eyepiece.

combination of 30 0.03 second images.
300mm f/18 cassegrain plus 2x barlow lens.
June 21, 2007.

Venus was very frustrating to image because it was so bright! Even at the shortest exposure available and using a blue filter to dim the planet, it still saturated. To really get anythig decent, a UV filter is required.

Venus

Combination of 20, 0.02 second images unfiltered and 10, 0.02 second images using red, green and blue filters.
SBIG STL-1001E CCD. 300mm f/18 cassegrain telescope plus 2X barlow lens.