Hi all

Back on the 17th September 2009, there was a lovely dawn conjunction of Venus and the Crescent Moon. I woke up early and was greeted to some beautiful clear skies, so I headed out to Terrigal to capture the pairing.

Click each image to see a 1200px wide version.

Venus and Crescent Moon at Terrigal. Click for larger image.

The data has been sitting on my hard drive for almost 3 months waiting to be processed, but I finally managed to find some time to finish them off. And I’m glad I did – I’m happy with how they turned out.

Continue reading to see all of the conjunction images captured in the twilight glow.

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This morning there was a beautiful conjunction featuring the waning Crescent Moon and Jupiter, less than 2° away. 

Looking through the eyepiece at Jupiter, she appeared to have an extra moon in an odd position – in fact it was a field star, HIP105256. The Galilean Moons were close by – Io was right next to Jupiter, with Europa and Callisto a little further away. Ganymede was in transit but was not observed.

I was able to fit the pairing in the field of view of my Canon 350D when attached at prime focus to my Saxon ED80, so I snapped off a few images before heading to work. Unfortunately I didn’t nail the focus and didn’t notice until I’d finished.

Please click the image to see the full-size.

Moon, Jupiter and Stars Conjunction. Click image for full-size.

While viewing the images on the train, I noticed that the star 29Cap was egressing from being occulted by the Moon. So I combined 8 frames into an animation showing the motion of the Moon through the stars.

Please read on to see the animation and to read more about the image.

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For ages last night I sat in bed wondering where to go to photograph this marvellous sight… wondering if it would be cloudy, would it be clear, would the skies provide the same dramatic scenery as I was presented for the Smiley Face Conjunction, would I remember the spare batteries, my tripod, the remote switch, would the alarm wake me up or would I sleep through it?!

Luckily, everything came together for a beautiful morning of photography and I was able to capture some stunning images of the Moon, Jupiter, Mercury and Mars conjunction. 

Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars Conjunction at Dawn

The image above is my favourite from the session, and was taken with the Canon 20D and Sigma 17-70mm lens @ 33mm, f/5.6, 2.0s exposure @ ISO800.

Please continue reading below to see more photos of the conjunction gracing the lovely morning skies.

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Wow, well last night certainly proved to be more stressful than was expected! After a beautiful and clear practise run on Sunday night, it was supposed to be crystal clear on Monday night too but high cloud and then thick low cloud came in during Monday afternoon which threatened to spoil the whole event for me.

News of the rare celestial alignment had made it to all the media outlets and it got quite a bit of coverage yesterday. I gave a short interview for the local Star 104.5FM radio station, and I saw it mentioned on news.com.au, and the TV news as well.

It did clear for me, just! Here’s the first of the many images I captured. 

Smiley Face Conjunction at Sunset (HDR)

The picture above is available for purchase as a print, matted and framed, or even as a greeting card at RedBubble. Please read on to see more..

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I did some reconnaisance last night to find a location and do some practise for tonights Smiley Face Conjunction. 

Jupiter and Venus, with Crescent Moon

I ended up at Yattalunga, near Saratoga on the Central Coast of NSW – about 20-25 minutes drive from home on the edge of Brisbane Water. The location was pretty good, and suitable for tonight, just a bit limited with available compositions. If the tide was higher it would allow a bit more flexibility.

Jupiter and Venus, with Crescent Moon

Not sure now if I want to go somewhere else – maybe back to the old favourite at Long Jetty or further north at the Entrance. I’m quite happy with how the shots turned out, but starting to feel like going somewhere different tonight.

Jupiter and Venus, with Crescent Moon

All shots taken with the Canon 350D with Sigma 17-70mm lens on a tripod. Capture details between 1-5s exposures, f/10 at ISO100 and ISO400.

The weather is going to be fantastic for the conjunction tonight – couldn’t have asked for more! Good luck and clear skies in your part of the world!

I also took some shots of a barnicled boat while waiting for the sun to set – it has seen better days!

Barnicle Boat

Barnicle Boat

Barnicle Boat

These images have been a long time coming – they were taken back in late June/early July, at Nambucca Heads on the mid-north coast of NSW when Anthony Wesley and I were there for a planetary imaging camp.

I only just got around to processing them this week. I’m not sure why but I always left them until later. Looking at them now, I wish I’d processed them earlier – i’m really happy with how they’ve turned out. I love these type of shots – combining terrestrial photography with astronomical interests.

Dawn Moon Earthshine

We had such a fantastic week there – every day was clear and every night was clear. Every morning had brilliant (cloudless) sunrises and the waning thin crescent moon made an absolutely georgeous sight each morning. Read on to see more images..

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