Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Phases of Venus


Here are five photos, merged into a single frame. Each of them is a picture of Venus, taken at the same magnification, about 50x, but on different days: May 29, June 18, June 25, July 6, July 10 and July 24. Notice how the planet appears to be getting larger, and the crescent shape is getting thinner. This may be the last photo I am able to take of Venus before it gets too close to the horizon. Notice how the apparent diameter has increased to more than double since I started.

These pictures are really poor quality compared to what it looks like with moving air currents and color refraction, but they capture the idea, and provide fascinating comparisons.

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