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Soumyadeep Mukherjee
Kolkata, India
06/01/2023
06:32 pm

Equipment Details:

Nikon Z6ii, Sigma 50mm f/1.4, Leofoto Tripod

Post-processing Details:

Photoshop

Image Details:

𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐒𝐤𝐲

A mysterious object appeared in the western sky earlier this evening. Here is the story: at around 6:25 PM IST, I peeped through the window and saw two bright objects in the western sky. One of them I instantly recognized as Venus. The other one, however, I first mistook as Mars. It was bright, almost as bright as venus. I quickly grabbed my camera and went to the terrace for a picture at 6:32 PM IST. I was able to take a picture in a hurry. Then I thought of making a better composition and took a couple of minutes to adjust the settings. To my surprise, the object (I was still thinking of it as Mars) wasn't visible in the camera screen and also with naked eyes. I thought it was because of the clouds. I waited for another 10 minutes and still could not see the object. I took a few images and was unable to find it on the back of my camera.
This was when I started to realize that it couldn't have been mars. Currently, Mars is way too faint to be seen at that time of the twilight. It wasn't also in the position where Mars was supposed to be. The object was located towards the west of Venus and was around 10-12 degrees away and it was stationary.
And I'm still guessing what it could have been. A weather balloon? But then it should have been moving (but it wasn't). What are your thoughts? Feel free to ask for the RAW image, if you want to inspect.
Image captured with Nikon Z6ii, Sigma 50mm f/1.4, Leofoto Tripod
Exif: f/4, 1/60s, ISO 640, 50mm
Location: Kolkata, India