Sunset And Moonrise

A Double Blessing On The First Day Of Summer

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I just happened to look towards the western horizon at precisely the right time on Monday. Luckily, I always have my camera close at hand, so I was able to get these quick shots of the clearly-defined rays of the setting sun.

Monday was an interesting day for a Sky Watch participant, especially one who lives in Australia. You see, December 1 is the official start of our summer, so spring is behind us and the weather is getting hotter as the days get longer.


These two shots of the sunset were taken through a window, because I needed the elevation in order to get the best effect of the rays - and I had to act extremely swiftly because I knew the span of the rays would only last a couple of minutes.

The clouds had me worried, though. We were looking forward to nightfall because I knew that a clear sky would enable us to see the extremely rare right of the moon, Venus and Jupiter aligned to look like a smiling face. For most of you, the sight would have been the other way around, but we're the Land Down Under, where everything is topsy-turvy, including the seasons and the orientation of the sky!

But as I told the Authorbloglets, the clouds were building up quickly and we probably wouldn't even get a glimpse of the "face in the sky".

Then, about an hour later, the clouds went scudding through fairly rapidly because of the strong breeze and we were able to feast our eyes on this sight. We were in a hurry as we were going out - so I took this shot without a tripod. There is actually a slight shimmer on the image of the stars, but it's not a bad result for a shot taken with the camera held freehand.

I guess it was a real blessing, by Jupiter.


For other participants in Dot’s concept, go to Sky Watch HQ.