Multiple Moonset

Taken at Steve Dodder's Stone Haven Observatory, Maricopa, Arizona.

This in-camera multiple exposure captures the setting of three celestial objects: first faint Mercury, then bright Venus, and finally the crescent moon. All three appear side-by-side just above the skyline, but they were actually there at three different times (Mercury at 6:57pm, Venus at 7:21pm, and the moon at 8:11pm); this unplanned "conjunction" was created in the camera!

Date: September 30, 2000
Time: 6:57pm to 8:11pm MST
Location: Maricopa, Arizona
Camera: Olympus OM-1 on fixed tripod
Film: Fuji Provia 100 slide
Focal length: 100 mm
Aperture: f/4
Exposure time: 4 seconds for Mercury, Venus and horizon colors at 6:57pm; then 1 second every 10 minutes from 7:11 to 8:11pm
Scanned with Nikon Coolscan LS-10E