{"id":1417,"date":"2012-03-27T22:45:24","date_gmt":"2012-03-27T22:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/scurry\/?p=1417"},"modified":"2012-03-28T17:34:13","modified_gmt":"2012-03-28T17:34:13","slug":"fabulous-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/scurry\/2012\/03\/27\/fabulous-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Fabulous night"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tonight, at the end of an exhausting day, I have few words, but it was beautifully clear so I have taken some pictures of the night sky. And made a short film.<\/p>\n

The photographs are by no means exemplary. The shots of Orion are not pin sharp. The Moon and Venus are both over-exposed so you cannot see their phases. To the naked eye the moon was only a quarter full \u2013 as is apparent in the video below; in the eyepiece of the telescope Venus seemed to me to be about half-full.<\/p>\n

This is the first time I have seen a phase of Venus. And, though I could not take a picture, even amid London’s city-glow I could also make out the luminous clouds of the Orion Nebula. I am still very much an astronomical amateur<\/em> so, modest though they are, these findings pleased me.<\/p>\n

It was a fabulous night for star gazing \u2014 after a frenetic day, a good chance to recover a sense of perspective.<\/p>\n

\"Moon,<\/a><\/p>\n

The Moon, Venus and, right at the bottom, Jupiter.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Orion<\/a><\/p>\n

Orion, in all his glory. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Orion\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Orion – a closer look<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n