When Jupiter Aligns with Mars

 I've had the conjunction of the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter on my calendar for about a month.  I suppose I should add Saturn and Mercury to the list of planets, because all four of them are in the eastern sky before dawn.

The moon was scheduled to approach them starting Tuesday, March 17, and swing under or through Jupiter and Mars on the 18th.  I was amused, because right now, any time the Moon is just about to set, it's in the Seventh House and we can all channel our inner Fifth Dimension and start singing "Aquarius."

Tuesday morning was cold and clear.

And the Moon was farther away from Jupiter and Mars than I realized.  This makes it difficult to compose a nice looking photo:  in order for the planets to show up, one has to increase the time the camera shutter is open, which means the Moon washes everything out and/or becomes a brilliant and featureless object.

Also the ecliptic is pretty close to 45 degrees this time of year--as opposed to 68 degrees three months ago at the Winter Solstice--which means I have to go across the street to photograph solar system objects so that I'm not taking artsy photos of my neighbor's rooflines (I still have to deal with utility lines).  

I took a bunch of blurry shots, about eight passible ones, and vowed that I would take more photos on Wednesday (3/18), when the Moon and the planets would be closer to each other and in a more managable field of view.

Of course, that night the clouds rolled in.  I woke up early to a patchwork sky.  It seemed like the clouds were teasing me with a peep show of pre-dawn luminaries.  But I got the camera and tripod ready and checked the skies between brewing tea and eating breakfast, and about an hour later, there were enough rents in the clouds to warrant traipsing across the street and seeing what I could see.

Focusing through the clouds was a little tricky, but I figured I was doing well when I was able to resolve the Galilean moons from Jupiter.  I think the clouds helped some, because they toned down the glare of the moon; also the limb of the moon was thinner than it had been the day before.

I like the color on Wednesday's photos, and I like the features of the Moon on Tuesday's photos.

Jan 1 Moon Conjunct Venus

More details about New Year's -- The first three days of January, the Moon sailed past Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury.  I was hoping that I would be able to see (and photograph) the early morning celestial show.  Monday, December 31, the skies were cloudy and instead of moon photographs, I ended up wandering around Amazon Park in the fog.

Tuesday morning, the clouds were more cooperative, and the Moon was about eight degrees south of Venus.  The morning was much colder than the previous day's, and the basin of water in our back was frozen through.  I took a few shots and realized that the night was hazier than I thought.

At one point, Spencer (Cicero's brother) came up hoping for kitty treats or something (I'm pretty sure he comes over on a regular basis at 5:30 AM to see if Smokey or Cicero will come out and play), but ran away when I said hello.

I managed to get a wide-angle shot of Jupiter (through the trees and power line -- you can see at the very tip of one of the branches between two of the power lines), Venus and the Moon.  Since it was cold, and I didn't want to freeze the camera (or myself), I went back in and crashed on the couch looking out at the sky.  I dozed a little, and then woke suddenly to a purple sky.

High clouds and con-trails provided some artistic shots.  At another point, I snapped a shot as an airplane occluded the Moon.  I was hoping for a cool outline, but got the trails from the wing lights instead.


More photos here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/j6ukwDZCEsNA7Zqo6 

Moon, Venus and Mars Conjunct

Last night I watched the conjunction of the Moon, Mars and Venus.

I tried to take a photograph of them through Mark's telescope, but I couldn't get the lens of my camera close enough to the eyepiece of the telescope (somewhere I've got some cool pictures of Pacific birds and sea-lions taken through a telescopic viewer).

I ended up taking a photo of them with the regular lens, which doesn't do astronomy pictures so well (you can sort of see the moon to the left of the tree).   It was too bright to see Mars without a telescope, and by the time it got darker, Mars wasn't visible.

I had better luck with the lens on my tablet, which was able to get closer to the eyepiece.  By this time the trio had set a little, and trees and wires were getting in the way.  Also, some clouds were rolling in.  If you look at the second shot, you can make out a dot (Venus) about 8 o'clock from the moon and below the wires.