Three planets in the evening sky, as seen from the mountains of southern New Mexico. (Evening of 21 February.)

See the 2nd graphic for a finder chart from planetarium sky simulation software.

These three planets are very different in brightness, but the differences in sky background surrounding each planet ends up making them all appear roughly the same brightness in the photo. Venus is brightest, followed by Mercury, with Saturn the faintest of the three.

#Astronomy #Planets #Saturn #Venus #Mercury #Photography #Astrophotography #Evening #Twilight #Pisces #Cetus

The young crescent moon occulted Mercury today...as seen from the mountains of southern New Mexico.

First photo is a telephoto shot of the moon only a minute after it uncovered our innermost planet. This was taken in bright twilight as a wind and dust storm was easing up.

Second photo is a wider angle shot ten minutes later that includes Venus in the bottom third of the frame. The evening twilight sky colors are pallid because of the dust storm clouds billowing a mile below me on the floor of the Tularosa basin.

#Mercury #Moon #Crescent #Occult #Occultation #Astronomy #Twilight #Evening #Photography #Astrophotography