Solar System

Crescent Venus

Venus is showing a thin crescent in this image due to its close conjunction with the Sun.
When Venus is at its largest and brightest it is also very close to the Sun as viewed from Earth, so it is important to attempt any imaging as early in the evening as possible while it is still well above the horizon and out of the worst turbulence.
I spotted Venus with binoculars about an hour before sunset and quickly aimed the telescope at it to get this image.

OPTICS: 10" Newtonian f/5.2, Meade 3x Barlow lens
MOUNT: Losmandy G11 equatorial
CAMERA: Philips ToUCam Pro SC1 webcam
FILTERS: Luminance: Meade OIII, Color: none
EXPOSURE: ~500 x 1/1000th s
DATE/TIME: 18/12/2005 07:25 UTC
LOCATION: My backyard observatory in west Auckland, New Zealand