Conjunction of Venus and Saturn (1.7.2007)

Click the image to see high resolution photo (2.89"/pixel).

Venus & Saturn 1.7.2007 21:13-21:55 (19:13-19:55 UT) Camera: Nikon Coolpix 995 afocal Telescope: 8" F6 Orion Optics Europa Newtonian Eyepiece: 40mm Plössl Camera focal length: 8.2mm Telescope focal length: 1200mm Result focal length: 246mm Exposure: stack of 6 frames (2 x 1/60s ISO100; 3 x 1/30s ISO100; 1 x 1/30s ISO200) The minimum distance of Venus and Saturn was in July 1th, 9:34 UT - only 0° 39' 47". At time when I took photos, the angular distance was about 0° 43' 02". This session was very complicated - a lot of clouds - half of them were caused by air planes!. Furthermore, I have not adapter for afocal photography with my 40mm Plössl eyepiece, so I hold the camera only in hands, so I couldn't get as good focusing as with adapter. Processing: Stacked in K3CCDTools using field derotation - see How to process a sequence affected by field rotation for more information. The field rotation was caused by holding the camera only in hands.

Click the image to see high resolution photo (2.89"/pixel).

Venus & Saturn 1.7.2007 21:14 (19:14 UT) Camera: Nikon Coolpix 995 afocal Telescope: 8" F6 Orion Optics Europa Newtonian Eyepiece: 40mm Plössl Camera focal length: 8.2mm Telescope focal length: 1200mm Result focal length: 246mm Exposure: single exposure 1/30s ISO100 The same session as above - only 1 frame shown without any processing.

Conjunction of all 5 naked eye visible planets (9.5.2002)

Click the image to see high resolution photo (1024x768). Click here to see high resolution photo with labels (1024x768).

5 planets 9.5.2002 21:19 (19:19 UT) Camera: Nikon Coolpix 995 on tripod Objective: f=8.2mm, F=2.6 Exposure: 8s (ISO 200), Camera's NR used Seeing: average

Conjunction of all 5 naked eye visible planets (8.5.2002)

This is my 1st astronomy shot with my new Nikon Coolpix 995 camera. The quality of photograph is much more better than the quality of photograph taken with my Vesta 675SC2 webcam. The movement of Venus is clearly apparent (compare to photo from 5.5.2002).

Click the image to see high resolution photo (1024x768). Click here to see high resolution photo with labels (1024x768).

5 planets 8.5.2002 21:15 (19:15 UT) Camera: Nikon Coolpix 995 on tripod Objective: f=8.2mm, F=2.6 Exposure: 8s (ISO 100), 1xDF Seeing: better than average DarkFrame was subtracted in K3CCDTools.

Conjunction of all 5 naked eye visible planets (5.5.2002)

This month all 5 naked eye visible planets are quite close to each other to see them at one sight. Photos were taken by my Vesta 675 SC2 cooled camera. Camera was put on tripod. Original webcam lens was used (f=4.8mm, F=3.0)! Exposure 2s, gain 50%.
It is a nice example of doing astrophotography without telescope :-).

Place mouse pointer above the photo to see the labels. Planets labels are bold. Click here to see full resolution photo (640x480 size).	5 planets 5.5.2002 21:05 (19:05 UT) Camera: Vesta 675SC2 (cooled) with original lens on tripod Objective: f=4.8mm, F=3.0 Result focal ratio: F3.0 Exposure: 5x2s (gain 50%), 30xDF, CCDAmp ON Seeing: soft fog in horizon, clouds
Place mouse pointer above the photo to see the labels. Planets labels are bold. Click here to see full resolution photo (640x480 size).	5 planets 5.5.2002 21:09 (19:09 UT) Camera: Vesta 675SC2 (cooled) with original lens on tripod Objective: f=4.8mm, F=3.0 Result focal ratio: F3.0 Exposure: 5x2s (gain 50%), 30xDF, CCDAmp ON Seeing: soft fog in horizon, clouds
	5 Planets After Sunset Video 5.5.2002 20:59 - 21:20 (18:59 - 19:20 UT) (accelarated by factor 140X) It is very nice spectacle for naked eyes! Beautiful tones of blue, gradual darkening sky. But most of people prefer TV... :-( Wait until whole video file is downloaded. Set proper brightness/contrast of monitor.

Conjunction Moon-Saturn in 25.4.2001

25.4.2001 in the evening there was a very nice conjunction Moon-Saturn visible by naked eye. Conjunction occured at 18:23 (16:23 UT). Saturn was 1° 21' northely from the Moon. Jupiter was near the Moon and Saturn, too (eastern). All photos were taken with SONY Video 8 camcorder without using a telescope.

Click the images to see larger photos.

The start of performance. Saturn is not visible in this small image. Click the image to see it. The bright "start" above the Moon is Jupiter.	20:44 (18:44 UT) The sky is darker and Aldebaran star is visible now.

20:29:34 (18:29:34 UT) The "dusty shine" of the Moon is visible.	20:31:38 (18:31:38 UT) Another exposure settings...
20:36:24 (18:36:24 UT) Conjunction above the block of flats - for better imagination of the conjunction in the "real" world.	20:40:38 (18:40:38 UT) After 12 minutes...

After processing all conjunction photos I noticed, that movement of the Moon is apparent during 12 minutes of my imaging session. The animation was created from 2 photos taken at 18:28:14 UT and 18:40:38 UT. To see better the movement of the Moon, the third frame was inserted between these two - it was created as summation of these frames. Saturn was selected as a reference point for movement of the Moon, because its movement is negligible in comparison with movement of the Moon.

Processed image to show the maximum details visible on its dark area. The seas are easy visible.

Back to Sky Page

Computer generated images, real images, drawings and texts are property of the author and may not be reproduced or used without permission of author.

Last Update: 03.07.2007