Planetary Intergalactic

A conjunction of the planets Mars and Neptune gave me an opportunity to try my skills at capturing Neptune in a photograph. When the planets are nearby each other it is easier to be certain you have identified Neptune correctly as it is so faint, and easily mistaken for a background star. This shot was taken from Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast in gaps between the clouds. Details: Canon 60D unmodified, Lens 200mm Tamron, Exposure 30sec, ISO3200, F-ratio 6.3, unguided using Losmandy StarLapse and tripod. See the original version here.

Dusting

Mount Isa received a light dusting of fine red dirt the other morning. It looked like the sky of Mars as seen from the rover Opportunity on the surface of the red planet.

Siding Spring Revisited

A reprocessed and improved version of the comet Siding Spring approaching planet Mars on the 18th October 2014 (Original post here).  This version has used Adobe Lightroom to first develop the raw images before stacking and processing in Nebulosity.  The difference a great piece of software makes to the data in an image is remarkable.

Close Encounters

In a close encounter of the Mars kind, comet Siding Spring last night was on course for a flyby of planet Mars.  I captured this shot with 10 minutes of exposure time and my trusty 60mm refractor. The noise in the camera is almost unbearable and has drowned out much of the signal, so I've really stretched the curves of this image to show up the faint detail.  And there in the noise, you can see the comet, a small green ball and whispy tail in the mid left of frame, headed toward the ruddy Mars.

Chasing ISON

Comet ISON is presently in the early morning sky before dawn near the bright star Spica, below and east of reddish Mars.  I tried getting a shot Sunday morning, but cloud obscured the view.

Conjunction

If you were keen enough to get up early in the last few days you would have seen this dazzling conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Venus and Mercury, and just below, Mars.

Five Planets

In this photo you can see five of the eight major planets as seen from Sunset Oval. At the top is Saturn, then lower down is Mars (between the two and left is the bright overexposed moon). Below that is the bright Venus and right near the horizon above the tree is Mercury. Then Earth. You will need to view the larger size image to see Mars more distinctly.