Wesley's Tool-Box

According to CalSky, tonight's Moon looks the smallest since October 28, 817. That's 1197 years ago. Next smaller full Moon will show up 140 years, on December 19, 2154, so for pretty much everyone reading this blog, this is the smallest one you'll see on Earth in their lifetime. Go out and enjoy the view while you can.

This was taken with my iPhone 5S through a hazy night sky on 19:35 KST via Cortex Camera.

Here is all my recent observations of Venus through Canon SX50 HS in one picture. I think it shows pretty well how Venus dramatically approaches Earth while being in the inner orbit. The last six observations have been posted in the blog before:

[2013-10-30] [2013-11-17] [2013-11-30]
[2013-12-07] [2013-12-21] [2014-01-04]

The first two didn't look much on their own, so I didn't make an entry about them when they were photographed, but they make for a nice comparison, so I included them here now.

The Iridium 42 featured in today's "The Toon-Box" was a frame from the series of burst shots I made with iPhone 5S. You can see the video of these shots as this YouTube video.

Device: iPhone 5S
Settings: 30mm - ISO 320 - 1/15s - f/2.2
Filters: None
Time: 2014-01-09 17:55 KST
Location: Seoul, Korea

Venus will be closest to the Earth on January 11. Since it's on an inner orbit, it'll be aligned very close to the Sun. So it'll set almost simultaneously with it, making it hard to see this week or the next.

This photo I took over the weekend is the one last good look at the planet before it shows up in the morning instead of evening. It's gotten quite big and was still relatively bright against the dusk.

Device: Canon SX50 HS
Settings: 1200mm (2x enlarged) - ISO 160 - 1/10s - f/4.5
Time: 2014-01-04 18:02 KST
Location: Suwon, Korea
55 photos stacked with RegiStax 6.1.0.8

In contrast to the flare spotted in the less light-polluted spot, Iridium 52's flare in the low altitude among one of the heaviest light pollution in the country is far less dramatic. Even the -5.2 magnitude brightness is nearly washed away in the background. See the YouTube video below for the faint flare in action.


Device: iPhone 5S
Settings: 30mm - ISO 1250 - 1/15s - f/2.2
Time: 2013-12-24 18:29 KST
Location: Seoul, Korea