On December 21, 2020, Saturn and Jupiter came close together in what is called the Great Conjunction. This happens every 20 years, but this one was much more rare due to how close they came. Saturn and Jupiter were within 0.1 deg. of one another, or 1/5 the apparent diameter of the moon to an observer. The last time they were this close was 400 years ago and couldn't be seen since the planets were in the sky during the day; the last time they were this close and observable was nearly 800 years ago in 1226 A.D.
A friend and I traveled an hour up into the mountains and sat for two hours in 30° F weather in order to attempt to capture this phenomenon. Unfortunately, clouds in the valley occluded the planets as they came closer to setting, but I was able to get one or two decent shots before they were too hard to see. Another complication was the breeze - even the smallest breeze made my lens shake noticeably at the zoom level I was at.
I then turned my lens on the moon for the closest shot I've gotten to date. More details in the photos' descriptions.
Went out again the next night with clear skies in my neighborhood. Much easier to get good shots without the wind, and after having nailed the focusing technique the night before. In this shot, I was able to bring the moons of Jupiter into view. I darkened Saturn some, and Jupiter quite a bit, to facilitate. ISO 400, 1680mm, f/18, 1/4 sec |
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