Venus as a morning star and at its greatest brilliancy (or illuminated extent) for this dawn apparition, shining at magnitude in the dawn twiligh

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Venus as a morning star and at its greatest brilliancy (or illuminated extent) for this dawn apparition, shining at magnitude in the dawn twilight. The star Spica is to the right of Venus. Taken from home on November 30, 2018, the day before the official day of greatest brightness. The waning crescent Moon off camera higher in the sky provides the illumination and the sparkles in the snow. This is a stack of 4 x 10 second exposures for the ground to smooth noise and one 10-second exposure for the sky, all with the Nikon D750 at ISO 800 and Sigma 24mm Art lens at Orton glow effects added to the sky and ground with Luminar and Nik Collection effects. Diffraction spikes on Venus added with Astronomy Tools for artistic effect.

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Size: 5400px × 3605px
Photo credit: © Alan Dyer / VWPics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: astro, astronomy, brilliancy, dawn, extent, greatest, illuminated, luminar, luminosity, mask, morning, nightscapes, nik, photography, skies, sky, star, stars, venus