APOD: New York Harbor Moonset (2017 Jan 06)

[APOD Robot]

New York Harbor Moonset

Explanation: Moonset on January 1 is captured in this sea and night sky snapshot from the port city of New York. Its warm moonlight shining through haze and thin clouds, this New Year's Moon was about 3 days old, in a waxing crescent phase. The visible lunar disk is about 10 percent illuminated. Also easy to spot in hazy urban skies, Venus blazes forth over the western horizon, begining the year as Earth's evening star. Like the Moon, Venus goes through a range of phases as seen from planet Earth. As the year began, telescopic views of the brilliant inner planet's disk would show it about 50 percent illuminated, growing into a larger but thinner crescent by early March. New York Harbor's welcoming beacon, the Statue of Liberty, anchors a terrestrial corner of the night's triangle at the far left.

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[Stardance_the_Forgetful]

The explanation seems inconsistent with the photograph. If Venus is in the west, then the photo was taken from the east. But the Statue of Liberty is on a small island in the Hudson River, on the west side of Manhattan island. Its position to the left of the viewer implies that the photographer was facing eastward to photograph the port. So, Venus would be rising as the morning star and the moon would be rising as well. I don't know about you, but I don't recall ever seeing the moon rising in the west -- like the Sun, it is setting when we see it in the west and Venus is the evening star.

The only way for the explanation to be correct is for a negative of the photograph to be printed as a negative per se -- the camera reverses left and right in the negative on film. But was this photo taken with film, or with a digital camera? Regardless, I have no idea how the Statue of Liberty would be included in the picture if the photographer was facing west, across the East River. Then again, the Port of New York is on the west side of Manhattan Island. The only dock on the eastern side of Manhattan that I ever saw was for a ferry to Ellis Island and/or to Riker's Island.

[geckzilla]

The explanation seems inconsistent with the photograph. If Venus is in the west, then the photo was taken from the east. But the Statue of Liberty is on a small island in the Hudson River, on the west side of Manhattan island. Its position to the left of the viewer implies that the photographer was facing eastward to photograph the port. So, Venus would be rising as the morning star and the moon would be rising as well. I don't know about you, but I don't recall ever seeing the moon rising in the west -- like the Sun, it is setting when we see it in the west and Venus is the evening star.

The only way for the explanation to be correct is for a negative of the photograph to be printed as a negative per se -- the camera reverses left and right in the negative on film. But was this photo taken with film, or with a digital camera? Regardless, I have no idea how the Statue of Liberty would be included in the picture if the photographer was facing west, across the East River. Then again, the Port of New York is on the west side of Manhattan Island. The only dock on the eastern side of Manhattan that I ever saw was for a ferry to Ellis Island and/or to Riker's Island.

I dunno, I was very easily able to position a camera facing westward from the Manhattan side of the statue and see the cranes and everything on the Jersey side in Google Earth. It seems fine to me. Keep in mind that photos shot through telephoto lenses can be very disorienting.

[neufer]

If Venus is in the west, then the photo was taken from the east. But the Statue of Liberty is on a small island in the Hudson River, on the west side of Manhattan island. Its position to the left of the viewer implies that the photographer was facing eastward to photograph the port. ... I have no idea how the Statue of Liberty would be included in the picture if the photographer was facing west, across the East River.

<<The Statue of Liberty is on Liberty Island in New York Harbor [on the west side of Long Island]. The statue's foundation and pedestal were aligned so that [the Statue] would face southeast, greeting ships entering the harbor from the Atlantic Ocean.>>

[heehaw]

real astronomy picture of today: http://epod.usra.edu/blog/

[rstevenson]

real astronomy picture of today: http://epod.usra.edu/blog/

Can't say the APOD did much for me today -- a rare occurence, I should add. So thanks for posting this link. It's a beautiful star pair, something I happen to enjoy quite a bit.

Rob

[neufer]

real astronomy picture of today: http://epod.usra.edu/blog/

It's a beautiful star pair, something I happen to enjoy quite a bit.

[img3="Auriga ("the charioteer") carrying the goat & kids as depicted in Urania's Mirror,
a set of constellation cards illustrated by Sidney Hall, London circa 1825."]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... Auriga.jpg[/img3]

<<Auriga (Latin for "the charioteer") was among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy. Auriga is associating it with various mythological charioteers. Its brightest star, Capella (Latin for small female goat) is associated with the mythological she-goat Amalthea, who breast-fed the infant Zeus.

Capella forms an asterism with the stars Epsilon Aurigae, Zeta Aurigae, and Eta Aurigae, the latter two of which are known as the Haedi (the Kids). The asterism containing the three goats had been a separate constellation; however, Ptolemy merged the Charioteer and the Goats in the 2nd-century Almagest.

Traditionally, illustrations of Auriga represent it as a chariot and its driver. The charioteer holds a goat over his left shoulder and has two kids under his left arm; he holds the reins to the chariot in his right hand. [Ptolemy hurrying away after leaving the Haedi (the Kids) with Alm-Uncle-RIGA.]

Eta Aurigae (η Aur, η Aurigae) is approximately 243 light-years (75 parsecs) distant from the Earth. Eta Aurigae is more than five times the Sun's mass and over three times the Sun's radius. The spectrum of this star matches a stellar classification of B3 V, which is a B-type main sequence star that is generating its energy through the nuclear fusion of hydrogen at its core. It is radiating 955 times the Sun's luminosity from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 17,201 K. Based upon its projected rotational velocity of 95, it is spinning with a rotation period of only 1.8 days. Eta Aurigae is around 39 million years old.

Zeta Aurigae (ζ Aur, ζ Aurigae) is approximately 790 light-years (240 parsecs) distant from the Earth. It has a combined apparent visual magnitude of 3.75, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. This is an eclipsing binary system with the orbital plane being oriented close to the line of sight from the Earth. As a result, an eclipse of one star by the other occurs during each orbit, causing the magnitude to decrease to +3.99. The pair have an orbital period of 972 days and an eccentricity of 0.4. The primary component has been categorized as a K-type bright giant or supergiant star. Its companion is a B-type main sequence star of stellar classification B5 V or B7 V.>>

[lghtspdsqd001]

The three closest objects to us, I wanted to mention Mars to Venus's left.

[alter-ego]

The three closest objects to us, I wanted to mention Mars to Venus's left.

Mars is not in the field of view, it is way above and Liberty is pointing towards it. 33 Aqr is the star just to the left of Venus.