Night Sky Photography -- 04-30-2023 -- Venus & Mars With Major Evening Stars & Constellations

Good evening my fellow stargazers!

Closing out the month of April, I was blessed to have some actual clear skies for this evening after rain and cloudy conditions for most of the last week.

This evening I was about to capture a couple of really beautiful shots of the bright planet Venus and the small red planet, Mars, along with four of the major evening star constellations over 50 minutes after sunset in the western sky. 

Venus and Mars are the second and fourth planets in our Solar System respectively, with our own good Earth in the orbit between them around the Sun.

As you can see from my first photograph, both planets appear in the western sky almost an hour after sunset with several bright stars in the western sky belonging to the winter constellations: Orion The Hunter, Canis Minor, Gemini The Twins, and Auriga The Charioteer.

Sirius, the Dog Star, is part of a fifth constellation, Canis Major which is largely obscured from view by the trees. While Venus is currently the brightest "wandering star" (planet) in the western sky, Sirius is actually the brightest of the evening stars in the night sky seen from the surface of the Earth.

In my second photo, I outlined the star constellations themselves in their current relations to the position of the planets.

Mars is just inside of the Constellation Gemini The Twins and will remain in close proximity to them for the next month at least. As it moves further and further away in its wider orbit around the Sun, Mars will become dimmer and, unless you know where to look, you might have a hard time finding it.

Venus meanwhile is very bright and easy to spot towards the sunset in the evenings. It will be the brightest object to appear in the evening sky other than our lovely Moon.

Union County South Carolina History Museum & Confederate Monument

The Union County Museum located at 127 West Main Street,
Union, South Carolina.

 
Hello everyone!

Located on the first floor of the restored Flynn Office Building on historic Main Street in the city of Union, the Union County Museum houses some really amazing artifacts and displays highlighting some of the great history of Union County, South Carolina and its importance to the history of the United States.

For instance during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War there were at least two important battles fought in Union County in 1780: Musgrove Mill and Blackstock's Farm -- both of them Patriot victories.

Battlefield maps, uniforms from America's various wars, and weapons are displayed at the museum including an 1823 era cannon. Also included is a table on which the original South Carolina Ordinance of Secession was signed in 1860.

At the end of the War Between the States in April of 1865, Union County hosted Confederate President Jefferson Davis as he and the remaining members of his cabinet attempted to escape Federal government authorities. Among the items displays in the museum includes a silver tea service used during President Davis' visit.

Textile mills played a huge role in the local economy during the early 1900s and the museum displays many artifacts from the time.

The following are the photos that I took of my visit to the Union County Museum.

Across the street at the nearby intersection is the historic Union County Courthouse and the 35-foot tall monument honoring Union County's Confederate soldiers and surviving veterans.

A brief history of the Union County Confederate Monument.

The thirty-five-foot obelisk monument, which is surmounted by a small pyramid of granite cannonballs, was originally located "in the middle of Main street at a point in front of the courthouse and on the highest point in the city" and erected in 1907 by the William Wallace Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).

The dedication ceremony took place on Saturday, May 25, 1907. A speakers' stand was erected in front of the courthouse near the monument. Garland bearers, flower girls, and the Union cornet band led union's veterans in a parade from Hotel Union to the monument.

The band and a group of Union schoolchildren greeted the veterans with a rendition of "The Sunny South," a new song dedicated to the Confederate veterans. Reverend B.G. Clifford offered the invocation. Mayor Macbeth Young gave the welcoming address, and the band played "The Bonnie Blue Flag."

Four Union County veterans then unveiled the monument. They were Charner S. Greer, formerly a captain of Company A, 18th S.C.V. Regiment; James C. Shellteworth, formerly a private in the Tyger River Volunteers, Company D, 5th S.C. Volunteer Infantry Regiment; J.D. Eppes, formerly a private in the Macbeth Light Artillery; and W.T. Betsill, formerly a private in the Congaree Troop, Company D, The Hampton Legion Cavalry Battalion.

While little girls decorated the monument, the assembly sang "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground."

After the band played "Taps," the beloved Reverend A.A. James, chaplain of the 18th S.C.V. Regiment during the entire war, introduced Colonel Asbury Coward, the speaker of the day. A crowd of 3,000 to 5,000 filling the streets of Union interrupted him several times with bursts of enthusiastic applause. Reverend James offered the benediction, and the band led the 500 veterans in a parade to the graded school grounds for dinner. The monument was later moved to its present location, probably because of traffic congestion.

(Source: A Guide to Confederate Monuments in South Carolina: "Passing the Silent Cup" by Robert S. Seigler, pg. 491.)

Visiting South Carolina Comicon 2023

Actress Emily Swallow posing with the cosplayers of the 501st Legion and Mandalorian Mercs.
She is best known for her role as The Armorer in the Disney Star Wars series The Mandalorian.
She was one of the highlighted celebrity guests at the SC Comicon 2023 in Greenville, South Carolina.

Well y'all, its that time of the year again.

On Saturday, April 15th, I once again took the roughly 85 mile trip from my home to the lovely city of Greenville, South Carolina to attend SC Comicon 2023, hosted by Borderlands Comics and Games of Greenville. The event took place at the outstanding Greenville Convention Center and attracts as many as 15,000 fans and cosplayers each year over a period of two days.

As many of y'all will know from my previous photojournalist posts where I attended this annual family-friendly event, SC Comicon is the premier comics and pop-culture convention in South Carolina's upstate, which features some of the top comic artists and writers in the industry, celebrity and media guests, toys, collectables, cosplayers....and of course comics. A wonderful celebration of all things fandom.

Without further ado, here are the photos I took of my visit to SC Comicon 2023 for y'all to enjoy.

The highlight of my visit to SC Comicon 2023
was meeting actor Francois Petit aka Subzero
from the 1995 Mortal Kombat live action film.

As always I hope y'all enjoyed my photos as much as I enjoyed taking them for your enjoyment. Have a wonderful Dixie day and y'all come back now, you hear!