Venus in the Pleiades star cluster, M45, on April 3, 2012. Taken from home on a hazy night with the 92mm TMB apo refractor, and Canon 7D camera for 13 seconds at ISO 200 and f/4.5 with the Borg reducer/flattener. Taken later in darker twilight. Wire taped in front of the lens provided the diffraction spikes. More haze and high cloud had moved in by this time providing more of a glow around Venus than in #1 shot.
The Amazing Sky 