Astrophotographer:

David Likuski

The planet Mercury setting over the Bay Area, taken from the Oakland hills, about a half-mile north of the Chabot Space & Science Center. End of nautical twilight, 6:50 PM, 2/22/06 ~1,400' above sea level.
Mercury (upper center-right), sets one night before greatest elongation. Taken with a Canon Power Shot A510, 3.2 megapixel, using 2-second delay and darkness mode (and one steady tripod!)

Venus and Jupiter near conjunction less than 1 1/2 degrees apart during deep twilight the night of August 31, 2005. View looking across Oakland's Lake Merritt, with the landmark, Alameda County Courthouse at the left, and the edge of downtown Oakland at right. Camera: Canon® A510 Powershot, 3.2 megalpixel without tripod - just the top of a "litter law enforced" signpost!

Here is one of many photos that I tried to take of the moon rising, 12/4/06, only 1/2 hr. after the crest of fullness. What is neat about this moon is that its declination of 26° meant that it--despite being just past full--rose about 27 minutes before the sun set, giving me a chance to try the camera under different settings during the first few minutes of civil twilight. Actually, the moon became visible over the ridge just as the sun was setting. It was better that way, since features on the moon were still visible; they would have been impossible to detect if I had to wait another 30-45 minutes for it to rise (e.g. waiting until the next evening). The moon cleared the ridge at about azimuth 59°, seen between the ridge's peak (not pictured) and Chabot. From that spot on the viaduct, crossing over the Lake Merritt channel, it was about 4° in altitude when first visible. This shot was taken about 6-7 minutes later