Jupiter – Circadianreflections Blog

Whatever Weds. Waning Moon Conjunction

April 27, 2022April 27, 2022Posted in Astro Conjunctions, Astro Photography, Moonrise, PlanetsTagged Celestial Conjunctions, Clouds, Dawn, Jupiter, Low Light Photography, Mars, Nikon, Pine Nut Mountains, Venus, Waning Crescent Moon42 Comments

I’ve been hoping for a clear sky before sunrise in order to see the Waning Moon and four early-dawn planets, but we’ve been having cloudy overcast mornings of late. On the 26th I got somewhat lucky even though it was cloudy. Here are 3 of the 4 early-dawn planets along with the Waning Crescent Moon over the Pine Nut Mountains. Following that line of planets up above Mars was Saturn, but it was already so light out I couldn’t see it.

Waning Crescent Moon under Mars, Venus with Jupiter close to Venus.

If you’re up an hour before sunrise your time this Saturday morning looking low in the southeast Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest objects in the sky after the Sun and Moon, are going to be spectacularly close at just a 1/2 degree apart!

Can you believe we’re just days away from May!? This month just flew by! I hope your week is going well and you have a lovely day.

Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm| PS CC 23.2.2

more to come…

Whatever Weds. The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

December 23, 2020December 22, 2020Posted in Conjunctions, Fuji X-T3, Night Sky Imaging, Nikon, Whatever WednesdayTagged Astro Photography, Crescent Moon, Fuji, Jupiter, Jupiter's Moons, Low Light Photography, Nikon, Saturn, The Great Conjunction of 2020, Whatever Wednesday47 Comments

I was pretty excited to see the Great Conjunction as I’m sure most of you were too, so I hoped for clear skies to be able to photograph it. On the 16th of December the crescent moon, Jupiter, and Saturn were fairly close to each other and it was a clear sky so I photographed it from my patio. It was cloudy all day but cleared pretty well but the wispy contrails and remaining clouds made the sky a bit more interesting. Can you spy the ski runs at Heavenly Ski Resort? X marks the spot.

Crescent Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn over the Carson Spur.

It was clear on Monday the 21st so I went out with my long lens to get a closer look at the conjunction. I had to crop it in for it to be a good look even at 400mm, but I was able to see 3 of Jupiter’s Moons too. The 3 tiny dots are the Moons.

Jupiter, 3 Moons, and Saturn. The Great Conjunction of 2020

Saturn’s rings are not defined which is disappointing, but I saw the Great Conjunction! Did you look for it?

I wish all those celebrating Christmas a very Merry Christmas, and those who aren’t I wish you a very Joyous Week!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 and Fuji X-T3| Fuji 100-400mm| PS CC 22.1

more to come…

Wordless Weds. Perseids and the Milky Way

August 12, 2020August 11, 2020Posted in Astro-Imaging, Astro-Photography, Milky Way, Nikon, Perseid Meteor Shower, Photography, Wide Field Astro-photographyTagged bridge, Clouds, Jupiter, Light Pollution, Milky Way, Nikon, Nikon Legacy glass, Perseids 2020, Pond, Saturn, Trees, windy46 Comments

The last bridge to the stars perhaps?

Persied Meteors and the Milky Way — Copyright ©2020 Deborah M. Zajac ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Nikon D810| Nikkor 18mm f/3.5 Ais| PS CC 21.2.1| Single Frame

more to come…

Whatever Weds. The Milky Way

April 29, 2020April 29, 2020Posted in Milky Way, Night Sky Imaging, Nikon, Photography, Stars and Planets, Whatever WednesdayTagged Carson Valley, Jupiter, Light Pollution, Milky Way, Pinenut Mountains, Planets, Saturn, Stars, telephone poles, what to do in the wee hours of the morning, Whatever Wednesday48 Comments

I woke up really early last week and the sky was cloudless so I thought I’d go out back and photograph the Milky Way. The light-pollution is worse than I remember! This was at 3:49 A M!

Jupiter and Saturn are still shining brightly over the Pinenut Mountains. Mars has marched so far East it’s out of the frame.

Milky Way from my Patio_DMZ8560

What do you do when you wake up in the wee hours of the mornin?

Nikon D810|Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G| SunDisk Digital Film| PS CC 21.1.1

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Conjunctions

April 15, 2020April 16, 2020Posted in Astro Conjunctions, Astrophotography, Moon, Moonrise, Nikon, Photography, PlanetsTagged Conjuctions, Hot Springs Mountain, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, Nevada Sky, Night sky, O'Dark Thirty, Pinenut Mountains, Satellites, Saturn, Shooting Star64 Comments

I’ve still got my head in the clouds or tilted upward toward the sky. This week there is a 3 planet and Moon conjunction going on in the wee hours before dawn and I’ve been up to see it two of the three mornings it’s visible.

Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars are all lined up beside or above the Moon.

Here’s how it appeared in my frame on April 14th, 2020. All three planets were rising behind the Last Quarter Moon. I caught a shooting star and a couple of satellites in my image too. They did look a bit bigger with my eyes but look smaller when photographed.

Here’s how it looked this morning with all three planets rising above the Waning Crescent Moon (44%). Jupiter is the brightest planet above and to the right of Saturn which is above the Moon, and Mars is following behind. It looks like I caught a satellite just left and lower than the Moon again this morning.

It’s supposed to start raining tomorrow and cloud up, but if by chance it’s clear tomorrow morning I’ll be up to photograph it. Tomorrow is the last day to observe them when they’re lined up so nicely then Mars will begin marching further eastward and be pulling further away from the other planets.

If you’re up an hour before sunrise on the 16th look southwest or look for the rising moon you can see the conjunction with your eyes no special gear required. Mars will be above and slightly right of the Moon with Saturn and Jupiter above Mars.

By the time first light appears in the morning sky before 6AM for me- dim Saturn and Mars are lost in the light and only Jupiter still burns bright above the moon.

I hope you’re all having a good week, and your spirits are up and you’re busy and well!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 35mm| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 21.1.1

more to come…

UPDATE! April 16, 2020 -It was clear this morning and the moon’s light shining in my bedroom window woke me up so I got up and photographed this line up too. As you see Mars is moving further away from the other two planets. I won’t be getting up and photographing this one again this month. There are other things I have planned this month though. 😀

Nikon D810| Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G| PS CC 21.1.1

more to come…

Whatever Wednesday: Reach for the Stars

July 3, 2019July 2, 2019Posted in Astrophotography, Milky Way, Night Photography, Night Sky, Nikon, Photography, Planets, Starry Night, Whatever WednesdayTagged camping, Dead Trees, Eastern Sierras, Good times with good friends, High Desert, Jupiter, Milky Way, Night sky, Nikon, Photography, Whatever Wednesday63 Comments

I met some girl-friends in Lee Vining this past week-end for a long weekend of camping and photography.

One of the things we wanted to do was some night photography. With the Moon rising in the wee hours of the morning we had several hours of the dark sky to work with.

After sunset which wasn’t too colorful, we went searching for a neat foreground to accompany a Milky Way image. We found this wonderful dead tree on a country road. We had a lot of fun shooting it and admiring the stars is always so peaceful.

If you look closely you’ll see I managed to capture several shooting stars in this frame.

The bright object above the tree is Jupiter.

Reach for the Stars

I have quite a few images to share in future posts from this week-end that include Wild Mustangs, a Ghost town at night, and some landscapes.

I hope you’re all having a great week!

more to come…

Venus and Jupiter Conjunction

June 29, 2015June 29, 2015Posted in Astro Imaging, Astro Photography, Conjunctions, Jupiter, Jupiter's Moons, Planets, Stars, VenusTagged Astro-imaging, Astrophotography, Conjunctions, Jupiter, Jupiter's Moons, Planets, Stars, Venus12 Comments

Venus and Jupiter are pretty close together tonight: just 1.1º. Also visible with binoculars or a Telephoto lens are Jupiter’s Moons. Europa, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Venus is the brightest low planet, and Jupiter is next brightest object diagonally above Venus. The little dots around

Jupiter are its Moons. Tomorrow they’re be even closer together, just 0.6º apart! If I’m lucky I’ll find a spot other than my yard without tree branches in the frame. 🙂 The best time to see this is after Dusk looking West.

More to come…

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