Starship Asterisk*

Moon and Venus over Switzerland

Explanation: Sometimes a morning sky can be a combination of serene and surreal. Such a sky perhaps existed before sunrise this past Sunday as viewed from a snowy slope in eastern Switzerland. Quiet clouds blanket the above scene, lit from beneath by lights from the village of Trübbach. A snow covered mountain, Mittlerspitz, poses dramatically on the upper left, hovering over the small town of Balzers, Liechtenstein far below. Peaks from the Alps can be seen across the far right, just below the freshly rising Sun. Visible on the upper right are the crescent Moon and the bright planet Venus. Venus will remain in the morning sky all month, although it will likely not be found in such a photogenic setting.

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Yeeehaw, I finally made it to APOD. Thanks @all for making this possible .

It's a delightful image, almost magical.

Ann

Congratulations, David!!

So are the clouds behaving like a reflection nebula?

Wow - this IS a beautiful photo!!! What a magnificent view - no matter what time of day .

Very beautiful. Congratulations

Ethereal.


Excellent image, mate!

Is everyone sure that the bright object in the picture is Venus?

According to Heavens-Above.com's star chart for this morning, Venus would have been below the horizon but Jupiter would have been visible.

Great image! But what are the two red lights in the mountains just below and left of the moon? Seems out of place, and zooming in doesn't seem to shed any light (pardon the pun).

LGM1963 wrote:Is everyone sure that the bright object in the picture is Venus?

According to Heavens-Above.com's star chart for this morning, Venus would have been below the horizon but Jupiter would have been visible.

Actually: no. I have no knowledge of these things. I'm just a photographer that likes images with stars. I was up there with a friend who studies astrophysics. He said it is Venus. Maybe I should have verified that before chosing the title.

LGM1963 wrote:
Is everyone sure that the bright object in the picture is Venus?

According to Heavens-Above.com's star chart for this morning, Venus would have been below the horizon but Jupiter would have been visible.

If by this morning you mean ground hogs day; this picture was taken before sunrise on Jan. 30, 2011 (and it is Venus).

lnwolf wrote:Great image! But what are the two red lights in the mountains just below and left of the moon? Seems out of place, and zooming in doesn't seem to shed any light (pardon the pun).

Those two lights are some kind of signal lights. I don't know what they are for. But they were there .

Those two red lights appear to be warning lights on a tower on top of a mountain peak.

LGM1963 wrote:Is everyone sure that the bright object in the picture is Venus?

According to Heavens-Above.com's star chart for this morning, Venus would have been below the horizon but Jupiter would have been visible.

Did you use "2011"?
Jupiter is visible in the evening sky right now, and Venus in the morning......

Are you sure that the Moon is crescent? I am almost right that it is almost New.

Boczko.

LGM1963 wrote:Is everyone sure that the bright object in the picture is Venus?

According to Heavens-Above.com's star chart for this morning, Venus would have been below the horizon but Jupiter would have been visible.

I checked this out with Stellarium. It was definitely Venus. No doubt!

Thanks for the answers

Yes, I used 2011.....

Perhaps the photo was taken some time ago.

boczko@astro.iag.usp.br wrote:
Are you sure that the Moon is crescent? I am almost right that it is almost New.

Now it is but not last Sunday: http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... 07#p142294

Any chance you can link us to a higher resolution version of this photo?

biddie67 wrote:Wow - this IS a beautiful photo!!! What a magnificent view - no matter what time of day .

I'll second that! It's really art! Great picture David. Be neat wallpaper

Great job David....Did you plan all that or just wake up one morning and there it was

Nice one... and I second the request for a higher resoltuojn version if available...

lnwolf wrote:But what are the two red lights in the mountains just below and left of the moon?

Eyes!

owlice wrote:

lnwolf wrote:
But what are the two red lights in the mountains just below and left of the moon?

Eyes!

They tend to put red lights on TV/radio/communication towers for some reason or other.