Thursday, August 6, 2009

Conjunction of Moon and Jupiter


Conjunction of the moon and Jupiter, August 7th, 2009, at 12:10AM EDT

There was a spectacular conjunction of the moon and Jupiter this evening. I managed to catch the above photo by laying prone on the sidewalk, using the sidewalk surface to steady my camera, with the exposure setting adjusted for night time / no flash, and using the timer and holding my breath to prevent the camera from shaking (my tripod just wasn't handy tonight).


Another photo of the celestial pair, peeking through a cloud-roughed sky. You can see Jupiter just on the tip of a wispy peninsula of cloud.

Jupiter has been plainly visible for many months now, usually fully risen by about 10:30PM EDT. It's the brightest "star" in the sky, and is easily spotted above the Eastern horizon in the early part of the evening. Hope you manage to catch it some night!

5 comments:

lovehound said...

What a lovely bit of stargazing, Mr. Poole :).You've captured the essence of the conjunction of the moon and Jupiter quite eloquently.

Unknown said...

Yes... what lovehound said. Well done, you!

Shelley said...

Both are excellent shots of the moon!!

Baby Rocket Dog and Hootie said...

Great photos. Imagining you laying on the sidewalk taking them...hehe. Here's some info for tonight(from aol):
(Aug. 11) - The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to put on a good show this week for those willing to get up in the wee hours of the morning and wait patiently for the shooting stars.
In North America, the best time to watch will be between midnight to 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, but late Tuesday night and also Wednesday night could prove fruitful, weather permitting.

John Poole said...

Lovehound ~ Why thank you, my faithful Hound of Love!

Lady Beth ~ And thank you, too, luv!

Shelley ~ Thanks, Shelley!

BRD & H ~ Thanks Cassie, especially for posting info about the Perseid meteor shower! I hope folks see this; I will circulate this infor via Twitter, just to get the word out to a wider audience.