www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I know a lot of UK Butterfliers will be out pointing telescopes and cameras at the sky over the next few evenings, so I thought I'd set the ball rolling. Thick cloud is forecast for Monday anyway ...

I took these tonight, between about 17h45 and 18h00. The exposure needed to bring out the Galilean moons means Saturn is burnt out but you can see its oval shape all the same. The colours are what came through the camera - I didn't enhance them. Some will be in-lens aberration, some due to the atmosphere (bright stars near the horizon scintillate red-blue) but Ganymede and Europa might really be a little yellow and green. Io is hidden behind Jupiter but should be visible on Monday.





In context:



Guy

Incredible - thanks for that, Guy!

Cheers,

- Pete

Thanks for flagging this up, Guy. Those are extremely good images and there was a clear period just after sunset where I was able to see this conjunction for myself (albeit I had to use my monocular to see Saturn behind Jupiter given that it wasn't completely dark).

I tried to take an image but without a tripod there was too much 'wobble' and all I got was a Jackson Pollock-like vapour trail.

Thanks Pete!

Hi David. A tripod is essential for stars and planets, though yesterday the wind was destabilising mine and a lot of shots failed. I think I must have been wrong about the time: it must have been between 16h45 and 17h00. Tonight I was out shortly after 17h00 and they were already closer to the horizon. The atmosphere caused more disturbance than yesterday and the shots were much less good, but you can see the planets are closer together:



Stopping right down, I could just get Saturn's rings to materialise, though here the atmosphere really did get in the way:



This wide-angle context shot shows how close they appear in the sky:



Detail from the same shot:



Unlike the Christmas star, this one appears in the West and rapidly sinks below the horizon!

Sadly, there's still no sign the clouds will break tomorrow, when they will be at their closest.

Guy

As so often, the weather is doing its best to thwart attempts at viewing the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction. Fortunately, I found some breaks in the cloud on the 19th, when I took a few shots. Apart from the interest in watching the two planets moving closer together, it's also an opportunity to watch the movements of Jupiter's moons on successive evenings. Zoom into the 2nd image and Saturn's moon, Titan, is visible to the right and below the planet:
Never trust a weather forecast, though - last night's forecast was for 'clear sky' at around 5 pm locally but, in fact, there was a band of cloud across the Southern horizon, blocking any chance of a sighting! It's always worth looking, as only a tiny break in the cloud in the the right place is all that's needed. Good luck
Mike

Those are excellent images, Mike. Is that Jupiter's atmosphere that can be seen when maximising the second image or is it distortion from our own?

it is an omen

David M wrote: ↑Mon Dec 21, 2020 1:19 pm Those are excellent images, Mike. Is that Jupiter's atmosphere that can be seen when maximising the second image or is it distortion from our own?

Distortion from our own - there was a slight mistiness in the air and I grabbed the photos between rain showers!

Great pictures, Mike. And really good to get Titan on film. There's a small, human artefact on its inhospitable surface ...

Sadly, dense cloud here stopped play today, when they were at their closest. But it was amazing to see them over the last couple of days.

Guy

MikeOxon wrote: ↑Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:33 pmDistortion from our own - there was a slight mistiness in the air and I grabbed the photos between rain showers!

Thanks, Mike. You did a great job under the circumstances. Only 400 years till the next one....