For a change the pre-dawn skies
were clear and a nice indigo blue. It was worth getting up at 4;50 am to
get these shots, just a couple out of 50 odd frames.
Tripod mounted Nikon D300 DSLR with a Nikkor 80 to 200 f/2.8 ED zoom.
Two of Jupiter's moons are clearly visible in the second image, Europa
(inner) & Callisto.
Taken at 05;16, 4 seconds at f/5.6 rated ISO 400
Conjunction shot below from February 5. Jupiter upper left, Venus,
& waning crescent Moon in the constellation Sagittarius.
Taken at 05:00, there were some breaks in the cloud at 15 degrees altitude.
For a change, the objects of interest were in clear'ish skies for approx
10 minutes.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 80- 200 f/2.8ED 4 seconds at ISO 1000
Images below Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80 to 200 f/2.8ED zoom. Exposure 2 seconds
at f/3.5 rated 1250 ISO
An unusual alignment occurring
on December 1, 2008, giving the appearance of a "smiley face"