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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UPDATE: Photos of the Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars Conjunction from the 23rd February.

Conjunctions of the Moon and Planets can be quite special events, as we saw on December 1st 2008 when The Smiley Face Conjunction graced our skies. A conjunction is an alignment or grouping together of 2 or more celestial bodies (usually the moon and planets) in the sky, from our vantage point on Earth. The objects aren’t necessarily physically close to each other in space, but from where we see them, we call the grouping a conjunction.

A conjunction doesn’t have any particularly special meaning, but they can be interesting to observe because very close conjunctions are quite rare events. It can be very exciting to see two planets in the same field of view of your telescope! Not only that, but conjunctions, especially with the moon and/or bright planets are involved, are just a lovely spectacle to look at and photograph.

Smiley Face Conjunction at Sunset, December 1st 2008

Given that, there’s a few conjunctions coming up later in February and in late April that are worth getting up early to see and photograph:

• February 23rd: Conjunction with the Moon, Jupiter, Mercury and Mars (Photos here)
• February 25th: Conjunction with Jupiter, Mercury and Mars
• April 23rd: Conjunction with the Moon, Venus and Mars

Continue reading for more information including sky charts and tips for observing and photographing the conjunctions.

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Hi all

For the past 3 years, I’ve been doing a pictorial review of the planets – making a composite image of my best planetary images taken during that calendar year. You can see the old composites here: 2005, 2006, 2007 (click on the image to see the full size).

For 2008, I didn’t think I’d be able to keep up the tradition – in my memory, I’d only captured images of Jupiter and only one of Saturn. However yesterday when looking through my 2008 data, I found more than I expected, so it has been possible, but only just, to make a 2008 pictorial review of the planets.

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