Planetary alignment this weekend
 

Venus, Jupiter and the moon will be close together evenings this weekend. Might be worth a look. I think I'm going to try and get some pictures of them if I can.

- Peter.

Every clear night for the past week I've enjoyed Jupiter chasing Venus towards the western horizon...apparently the moon has gotten jealous. :)

Thanks for the heads up! We'll be going to Big Bear this weekend, maybe I should bring my 150mm & 2x teleconverter after all. :)

Actually you're better off with a wide angle. I was shooting it last night with a 24mm and needed all of that to get Jupiter, Venus, Luna and the horizon in the view. I'll try again the next few nights as well as the Moon will be real close to Venus either tonight or Saturday, and then next to Jupiter the following day. Hope I can manage one or two decent shots.

Interestingly for folks with telescopes, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are all up nights right now. Though not all at the same time of course. Mars and Saturn appear much later.

- Peter.

Friday night was the only night it was clear enough to see the conjunction around here. They were a bit apart still but the moon was very pretty. A tiny thin Waxing Crescent tipped sideways. It was very pretty at the tree-tops.

It was beautiful indeed. I tried to get some pic's of the event. I have several rolls of film to be developed. I'll take them in tomorrow and hopefully will have some that are decent enough to post. On a side note. Mars was up later in the evening in the east and I had the best views I've ever seen of the planet thru our tiny 4.5 inch Orion Starmaster classic dob, with a 20mm lens and a 2x Celestron barlow giving 180 x magnification. I could see Syrtis Major as a dark blob, the south polar cap as a distinctly white patch on the limb and another darker feature diagonally bisected in the norhtern hemisphere. Makes me want to try and get my 5 inch F15 refractor refurbed and back in action.

- Peter.

Crystal clear sky here in So. Jersey last night. Great view, I guess between 60 & 70 degree elevation in western sky at 8:00 pm EST:)
Which was which? At that time here, the brightest (Venus?) was at the moon's 6. The other was at about 10-11.
Nice show!

Every time I see the title of this thread, I expect it to be about epicyclic gear sets.:(

The moon was the brightest. :)

Yes, Venus is brighter than Jupiter, although it does change brightness depending on its phase. Venus is also nearer to the Sun than us (Earth) so it is usually closer to the setting/rising Sun than other planets that are further from the Sun than us.

Wait, what is this? I don't even...

MV

I helped a friend change headlight bulbs on Saturday night in a Lexus and drove home via the coast highway, pulling off at one point just to take it all in. It was uncharacteristically clear and it was more enjoyable since I could listen to the waves rolling in and the wind occasionally breaking my frozen ears off.

But it was indeed gorgeous.

We (wife and I) were able to get a good look at it this evening. Beautiful site on a clear night:).

I was able to see it also, being that I'm STILL standing by my mailbox waiting for my BOLOGNA. :mad::mad::mad:

LOL

I have not been to WalMart this week.

Our trip was busier than I expected, I wasn't able to photograph any but on our brief drive out in the dark, to get a few household items, I did see the moon shining brightly and a star pretty close to it, possibly Venus?

I also forgot to bring my 150mm, but had with me my 12-24mm.

Has anybody gotten pics? :)