Happy Thanksgiving y'all!
This evening while many folks were just finishing their turkey supper with family and friends, I was outside having recently finished my own Thanksgiving Day celebrations, and looked west after sunset waiting to see the two smallest of the Wanderers toward the western horizon.
The giant planet Saturn only appears dim in the night sky because of it's great distance from the Earth -- a whopping 792 million miles at the planets closest orbital approach! Despite being the second largest planet in the solar system, from Earth it is the farthest planet that can be seen with the human eye without the aid of a telescope, and appears to be small and dim.
By contrast little Mercury often appears as a small white star low on the horizon just before sunrise and after sunset. Much of the time, this world is lost in the sun’s glare. Right now is good time to catch Mercury, though, because this planet is swinging to its greatest evening elongation, or its greatest angular distance from the setting sun.
Also managed to get a great shot of the waxing crescent moon just before the two planets became visible. A few good sized craters can be seen along the line of the Earth's shadow on Luna's surface.
Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed these Thanksgiving Day planetary photographs. Have a wonderful Dixie Day and keep looking to the night skies, y'all!
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