Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter

 

In less than a month, I'm hoping to get some good photos of Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon.  On December 16, a two-day old Moon will be in the vicinity of Jupiter and Saturn; sunset's at 4:28, twilight at 6:16, and moonset at 6:40 and (I'm guessing) Jupiter and Saturn set around 7:15 -- so I'll have to climb up the hill if I want a good shot (assuming it isn't raining).  On the Solstice, December 21, about 2 AM, Jupiter and Saturn will be about a tenth of a degree apart from each other.

With any luck, sky will be cloud free.  That's a tall order, as there is usually a winter storm in late December.  Fingers crossed.

One difficulty with photographing the Moon with other objects is that the Moon, once it's more than half full, can easily wash out fainter objects like Saturn or Mars.  Another difficulty is that if the Moon is much farther away than a stretched and held out hand (about eight degrees) from a planet, the resulting field of the photograph makes the moon look like a very small (but bright) object in a mostly dark field.

 I suppose photographing the Moon has become my lunar ritual.  By recording the Moon's image over the year, I've become more aware of the  its dance along the ecliptic:  this full moon is near Orion, last month it was near Aldebaran; that crescent is near Regulus.  And images taken over several nights has made me aware of certain craters and other features of jagged light.

This begs the question, where among the ritual tools of lamp and chalice, blade and wand, of thurible and pentacle, does one place one's camera?