Venus (upper right) and Mercury (lower left) are in close conjunction on the date of this post. The accompanying image was taken on the day before conjunction, and just before the two planets followed the setting Sun below the western horizon. I happened to be at Howard Astronomical League’s Alpha Ridge dark site for an observing session, and had forgotten about the conjunction. Once I spotted the pair on the horizon, I did not have enough time to set up the camera on a tripod, so I steadied myself on the Jeep’s spare tire for a quick, unguided exposure.
Canon EOS 60Da/55mm lens, f/1.4, 30s.
© James R. Johnson, 2015
jim@jrjohnson.net