I did have a photo but on looking at the News and realising that the night sky could be rather interesting with various planets, I went outside. To the East I could see this gold star which would be Mars and another, Jupiter. The to the west, i could see the crescent of the moon with Mercury to the left of it.
Three good things:
1. I’m pleased that my camera on a tripod got this image. I don’t have a good zoom.
2. I lost all my current photos but eventually after pushing so many buttons, got them back. Never give up hope!
3. Was able to catch up on Masterchef! The people they have chosen to star, are not your usual kitchen cooks! Far from it! Good to view but not to copy.
If we looked at our Western sky last night, we saw Venus to the left of the waxing crescent moon! I love the clouds in front of the moon in your photo!
The planet in this picture is Venus according to David's calculations. He is the astronomer in our family.
According to Stellarium mercury would have been below the horizon at 8.24 pm your time.
With all the experts giving opinions -- the comments are interesting and I wish I was more knowledgeable about the planets and our skies , but all I see is a beautiful skyscape Maggie and I love it and a fav :)
@onewing I'm sure David is right, Babs - I went by this which was on our NZ News Page:
The Moon begins its tour of the planets on Sunday, July 15. It’ll be a thin crescent low in the western sky and is a great signpost for Mercury which will be just to the left of the Moon with bright Venus sitting above.
The following night the Moon will be near Venus (as shown in the image above). Then on July 19, the First Quarter Moon will sit below the bright star Spica.
On July 21, the gibbous Moon will have made its way to Jupiter and by July 25 it will meet up with Saturn.
The Full Moon completes the tour on July 27 when it joins Mars shining at its best and brightest.
@maggiemae I just took a closer look at your photo and you are absolutely right! For some reason I thought that was reflection off of the clouds the first time I look at it. This is really amazing!
last week, i've been staring at a really bright star through the bedroom window and 'sky and telescope' website said it was one of the big planets, jupiter! glad you were able to get this shot. cameras today are so amazing! aces!
July 22nd, 2018
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According to Stellarium mercury would have been below the horizon at 8.24 pm your time.
The Moon begins its tour of the planets on Sunday, July 15. It’ll be a thin crescent low in the western sky and is a great signpost for Mercury which will be just to the left of the Moon with bright Venus sitting above.
The following night the Moon will be near Venus (as shown in the image above). Then on July 19, the First Quarter Moon will sit below the bright star Spica.
On July 21, the gibbous Moon will have made its way to Jupiter and by July 25 it will meet up with Saturn.
The Full Moon completes the tour on July 27 when it joins Mars shining at its best and brightest.