Look west tonight at 5-6pm if its clear

[Skywatcher]

Just to reiterate what Dan posted last week - if its clear look tnight to the west and you will see a lovely conjunction of the moon Venus and Jupiter

[mumof2]

ooo thanks, i must try and remember to do that - DS9 has his friend round for tea so i may forget in all the kerfuffle!

[Keith]

ooo thanks! me too!!!!

[ukwdwnut]

cool thx chris, i totally forgot about this :)

[uscwest]

I'm assuming that means 5-6 UK time. I wonder if we'll be able to see it here on the East Coast of the US at 5-6 our time.

[Skywatcher]

Look Now to the South its been alovely sight!!!

[Dawn]

I can see it. :D

[Dawn]

What planet is what?

[Dawn]

I took photos to prove I was standing in the garden in the freezing cold. :D

It's blatantly obvious I do not possess a tripod and was resting my camera on the garden fence. :lol:

This one is with the flash on...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/dawn_ash/DSCF0613.jpg


And then I turned the flash off...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/dawn_ash/DSCF0615.jpg

[Keith]

jeez good photos Dawn!!!

[Britchick]

great photos Dawn!

i'm really peed off - it was raining!

[Tink]

Wow. You got shots that clear with a regular camera? :unsure: Or do you have one of those super sonic lenses? :unsure:

[Dawn]

No that's a regular camera with a 10x zoom. Just stuck the zoom on max, auto focus, leant on the garden fence and hoped for the best. :lol:

Good job I got the photos as it's gone now.

[Tink]

Wow. That's some kinda' awesome photo! :yes: LOVE your technique! :yes:

[Deb]

Cloudy here :(

But there have been two very bright and big things in the south for a few days now - very spectacular and kind of in the configurattion shown in Dawn's pic. Has that been Venus and Jupiter? :unsure:

[Britchick]

Cloudy here :(

But there have been two very bright and big things in the south for a few days now - very spectacular and kind of in the configurattion shown in Dawn's pic. Has that been Venus and Jupiter? :unsure:

Chris said it was jupiter. Since he said i havenn't been able to get a pic because it's been cloudy. Still searching for uranus though:unsure:

[Skywatcher]

Awesome shot Dawn - your first steps at planetary photography :D

It was a lovely sight watching venus slip behind the moon and come out the other side - gives you a sense of perspective :D

Here is my effort with the 350d at 300mm - overexposed to show earthshine on the moon - and if you look at Jupiter ( top right ) you can see 2 of his moons into the bargain.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb84/sidleydoc/conjunctionmoonvenusjupitersmall.jpg

[Deb]

Chris said it was jupiter. Since he said i havenn't been able to get a pic because it's been cloudy. Still searching for uranus though:unsure:

I think you'd need a longer lens for that, you being so far away Brit. As an aside, if you look on my intro thread, I think Dawn was trying to sort work out which Blackpool pic was my backside and which one was the donkey's face :unsure: But I digress :D

Anyway, to get back on topic :D, must have been Jupiter and Venus, and they've been so pretty cos they've been hanging low over a hill. Away tomorrow night working, but if they're still there and the night is clear when I get back I'll take a pic and ask :thumbsup:

[Skywatcher]

Yes Deb Jupiter up top and Venus down below :D

[Watchinherskip]

Great shots.....Have to compare them with Starry night shots I put up last week and I guess I will have to pop out tonight and take a picture with my ol Fuji. Hopefully they will come out well as our sky is totally clear at present. A few hours to go and we can see how the sight looks from Eastern US.

[kazzaqld]

From here it looked like a long smiley face - the moon was the smile and the two planets the eyes.

It was soooo funny, Gareth and were looking in totally the wrong direction until DH came home and told us he'd seen them the whole time he was walking home and to look west not east - duh!! :unsure:

[Deb]

Yes Deb Jupiter up top and Venus down below :D

Thanks Chris :D

Strangely enough I was going to google what they were tonight...sheesh! To think all I had to do was come back "home" again ;)

[mumof2]

oh burgers - i forgot :sigh:

[Skywatcher]

Thanks Chris :D

Strangely enough I was going to google what they were tonight...sheesh! To think all I had to do was come back "home" again ;)

So true hun :D

[Dizneyblonde]

We saw it too, it looked beautiful :D

[Tink]

You'll wonder how you ever got along without this community of wonderful people, Deb. :yes: It's a very special place that our Keith has given us. Each person here has brought her or his own bit of magic and what an incredible home we have built.

You are going to be so pleased with all your discoveries! :yes:

[lozzy]

We saw this tonight, I was of to work at about 4.50 and I looked up to see the lovely site, didn't have time to photograph but never mind.

[lozzy]

Was this a one night thing or will it be there again tonight,???

[Skywatcher]

They will be together but not as close - there will be no Occultation of venus by the moon tonight - if you were watching yesterday the moon passed infront of venus and hid it from view for about an hour or so.

try photographing jupiter like I did and see if you can get any of the moons :D - had to go for a high ISO so I could keep the exposures short enough to get them without them being lost to trailing

[lozzy]

They will be together but not as close - there will be no Occultation of venus by the moon tonight - if you were watching yesterday the moon passed infront of venus and hid it from view for about an hour or so.

try photographing jupiter like I did and see if you can get any of the moons :D - had to go for a high ISO so I could keep the exposures short enough to get them without them being lost to trailing

Great I'll have a look, I'm of to work at 4.45pm so I'll get my camera ready just encase it's clear.

Do you know the settings you had your camera set to? just means I don't have to send to long getting them right. can't be late for work.:laugh2:

[Skywatcher]

dont k now took about 30-40 at different exposures to get different effects - for that used the 100-300 zoom lens wound most of the way out - manually focussed as autofocus has a mare at night. Wanted to capture the earthshine on the moon (lighting the unlit bit of the moon with light bouncing off the planet) and realised if I kept the exposures short could get the moons of Jupiter as well - there are actually 3 moons around jupiter on the pic if you zoom in and tweak the settings

Dont quote me but I think it was iso 1600 and about a 1-2 second exposure

[lozzy]

dont k now took about 30-40 at different exposures to get different effects - for that used the 100-300 zoom lens wound most of the way out - manually focussed as autofocus has a mare at night. Wanted to capture the earthshine on the moon (lighting the unlit bit of the moon with light bouncing off the planet) and realised if I kept the exposures short could get the moons of Jupiter as well - there are actually 3 moons around jupiter on the pic if you zoom in and tweak the settings

Dont quote me but I think it was iso 1600 and about a 1-2 second exposure

Thank you, I'm really hoping it stays clear for tonight.

[Britchick]

clear night tonight yippee! came out of work today and it was a perfect sight, just beautiful. Came home and went straight out with the camera- didn't take the tripod out because it's not sturdy enough imo (hope santa will bring me a more sturday one:yes:) couldn't keep camera steady enough and clouds kept obscuring the planets. Very very cool though, thanks Chris for telling us about these things :hug2:

[Beccaberry]

I saw it last night!! I did, I did!! It was so cool too...Jon and I had met at our local coffehouse for "Open Bottle Monday" (any open bottle of wine for $5!! AND free wifi :yes: ) So, as we chatted our way through a couple of bottles, we look at Dawn's, Skywatcher's and other's photos...very cool photos, btw. As we left the coffeehouse, I heard Jon say, "Wow. It looks just like the photos!" I looked up and there it was!! We rushed home grabbed the kids and towed them outside to see as well...Baleigh was very impressed, Andrew wanted to know if we'd been drinking :rolleyes: (busybody). I tried to take a few photos, even using Jon's head as a tripod, but they didn't come out for beans...I did manage to film a short clip of them though!

VERY COOL!!!

Thanks for sharing, Chris and Dan!!!

[Watchinherskip]

Well it was a bit overcast just as the sun was heading down. I managed a few shots into the darkening sky but my Fuji didn't have a manual focus (as far as I could find in limited time). I took a dozen shot or so and planned to include them here, but left my cable home. I will upload them this evening. I played around with the images a bit on the camera and will try to clean them up a bit.

It is interesting to see the movement of the moon from the time Chris took his shots (I guess around 17:00 gmt) and the time that I took my shots (around 22:00 gmt) as well as the angled difference from 37 degrees of latitude to near I guess 50 degrees latitude.

We all saw it at differnt times and have slightly different persepctives on the event. Cool.:thumbsup:

[Beccaberry]

Well, I don't know from angled differences and latitudes, I just thought it was purdy :wink:

[Watchinherskip]

Yes it was...very. I got my DD Alex to come out with me to take some pictures of it. Not sure which ones are hers...probably the better ones:tongue:

[Watchinherskip]

Here is the computer's prediction for tonight's alignment (for my location). The moon moves right along. Each day the moon rises about 50 minutes later than the previous day's moon rise. This due to the moon progressing along in its orbit. As we rotate back to the spot it used to occupy in space (about 24 hours) we find that it has moved. It takes the Earth about 50 minutes to "catch up to the moon" and the cycle begins again.

[Watchinherskip]

At home, here are a few pictures from last night..not the best but nice for comaprison views.

[Skywatcher]

Awesome pics Dan - just love the different perspective from a lower latitude mine were taken at about 18.00 ut

Brit hun :hug2: you are most welcome , oh and my tripod cost £9.99 :D - I do use a cheapo remote shutter cable though to minimise wobble

[Skywatcher]

TBH Brit I am amazed people are as interested on here as they seem to be :D

[Dawn]

Chris it's fascinating. When I was younger I used to do a lot of camping and on clear summer nights my friends and myself would lie in the middle of a field and wonder what might be up there. You finally beginning to make me understand. :D

I'll buy a tripod after Christmas. :lol:

[lozzy]

Looked out last night hoping to see the lovely site again, and all I saw was cloud.:thumbsdown: Lets hope today is better.:worship:

[ukwdwnut]

Awesome shot Dawn - your first steps at planetary photography :D

It was a lovely sight watching venus slip behind the moon and come out the other side - gives you a sense of perspective :D

Here is my effort with the 350d at 300mm - overexposed to show earthshine on the moon - and if you look at Jupiter ( top right ) you can see 2 of his moons into the bargain.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb84/sidleydoc/conjunctionmoonvenusjupitersmall.jpg


oh wow i can see the moons just, im sure i saw thes planets on friday night and last night too, totally the 2 brightest objects in the sky but couldnt take photos from my garden as they were hidden on friday but forgot to look on monday :(

[Skywatcher]

The brightest objects are right Mick after the sun it goes Moon, Venus, Jupiter - they are by far the three brightest things you can see

[ukwdwnut]

TBH Brit I am amazed people are as interested on here as they seem to be :D

chris i think ive said before ive been hooked on space since apollo 8 in 1968 i think it was.....and im sad as everytime we go to wdw ksc is the 1st to get dropped, i so want to go to see the saturn 5 beastie boy its awesome

[ukwdwnut]

The brightest objects are right Mick after the sun it goes Moon, Venus, Jupiter - they are by far the three brightest things you can see

ive only seen venus and jupiter together never with the moon as well :(

[Britchick]

Brit hun :hug2: you are most welcome , oh and my tripod cost £9.99 :D - I do use a cheapo remote shutter cable though to minimise wobble

the remote is on my christmas list- so expect great things after christmas lol.

[ukwdwnut]

the remote is on my christmas list- so expect great things after christmas lol.

brit i got a IR remote for £15 from amazon

[Skywatcher]

wired £5 from ebay - ha!

[Britchick]

it's around £15 and have asked sil for it, can't wait with that and my new flash gun! won't have a problem with light then :thumbsup:

[ukwdwnut]

wired £5 from ebay - ha!

wired - old tech guy ha!!! :lol:

[Dawn]

I've seen the Sat 5. :D

[Skywatcher]

wired - old tech guy ha!!! :lol:

more reliable mate at 3 am - less to go wrong ;)

[ukwdwnut]

more reliable mate at 3 am - less to go wrong ;)

lol as long as it works thats all thats needed isnt it, i never saw a cabled one, may have bought one for that price tho who knows

[Beccaberry]

Went and had another look last night...it was still there, just a bit further apart....Baleigh was quite proud of herself as she'd been able to share all about it in school the next day and write about it in her Science log. Thanks to you guys, I look like a star parent :wink:

[Skywatcher]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shutter-Release-Cable-for-Canon-EOS-5D-40D-30D-20D_W0QQitemZ140271184584QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pho tography_DigitalCamAccess_RL?hash=item140271184584&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318

actually now memory served got it for 99p and took 4 days to arrive from hong kong

[ukwdwnut]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Shutter-Release-Cable-for-Canon-EOS-5D-40D-30D-20D_W0QQitemZ140271184584QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pho tography_DigitalCamAccess_RL?hash=item140271184584&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318

actually now memory served got it for 99p and took 4 days to arrive from hong kong

blimey cant knock it for a quid can you

[Dorothy]

It was finallly clear last night and I could see too :D Glad I did because we're all cloudy again with snow predicted for today and tonight :thumbsdown:

[Skywatcher]

Isn't it lovely that this joins us all from all around the planet :D

[Dorothy]

Isn't it lovely that this joins us all from all around the planet :D

:hug2:

[Beccaberry]

Very cool indeed.

[ukwdwnut]

Isn't it lovely that this joins us all from all around the planet :D

i think its an awesome topic and cant fail to get people together

[Britchick]

the moon has moved tonight further away from the planets. I'm still mega impressed

[Britchick]

I forgot to tell you, a couple of nights ago i pointed it out to colleagues at work, they were mega impressed and went off to tell their families.

[ukwdwnut]

I forgot to tell you, a couple of nights ago i pointed it out to colleagues at work, they were mega impressed and went off to tell their families.

its just an awe inspiring subject to think you are looking at mega far away planets you cant fail to be gripped by it imo

[kazzaqld]

I wish I had at least tried to take a pic now so you could see it how I did - ah well, next time! :yes:

[mumof2]

i saw 2 really bright shiny things in the sky - south ish - and went to get my camera.....blinking battery has run out :thumbsdown:

[Deb]

On Saturday at about 4:15pm I snapped these from the South of my garden of Venus and Jupiter as it was a lovely clear night. I have put 4 photos of the sky from East to West to show the different gradations of sky colour at the same time so - the first of the moon, then in the next two hopefully you can see the planets, then the last is just the next bit of the sky to the West, just to show the difference between there and the depth of darkness in the East .

[Skywatcher]

Lovely Deb - certainly is a beautiful sight at the moment - lovely views from your garden :D

Thanks for sharing hun

[ukwdwnut]

great photos deb thx for sharing

[Watchinherskip]

Very cool Deb,

The moon is just past first quarter tonight. It should be well up in the sky by sundown tonight.

[Skywatcher]

was a lovely night last night spent about an hour crater watching :D