Planetary Alignments


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"



All images © Shevill Mathers - reproduction without permission prohibited

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