Conjunction: Mars, Mercury and Jupiter (Dec 10/11/12)

[iceman]

Just starting a thread for the discussion of the upcoming conjunction of Mars, Mercury and Jupiter on December 10th 2006, and providing good views for 2 days following.

It'll be in the Eastern sky just before sunrise, and will make a great view in a widefield telescope or binoculars.

A great opportunity for astrophotographers as well as a spectacular visual sight.

I haven't worked out where i'll be or what i'll do yet, but I'll definitely be looking to photograph it - somewhere with a nice easterly horizon with foreground interest for widefield photography :)

No houghy, not nobby's beach - damn wind and cloud! :)

More info about upcoming events can be found in the Calendar (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/calendar) and the next 5 events are listed on the left

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[stephenmcnelley]

Come up here and do it.
But only if the smoke clears.
Thanks for the reminder mate, will try and make a morning of it.

[jjjnettie]

Being over 3 days, there has to be at least one cloud free morning to see it.
Thanks for the heads up.

[h0ughy]

no mike i was going to suggest Mount sugarloaf that looks over Newcastle and lake MacQuarie:rofl: ;) At least I have a hunk of glass to capture the event, now just some clear skies:D

[iceman]

Just planning for Sunday/Monday/Tuesday..

Man it's going to be tough to see much.. they'll only be 10° above the horizon when the sun rises at 5:37am AEDST, and at 5:00am they'll be only 2° altitude.

Definitely not a telescope view or imaging opportunity.. more like widefield, long focal length lens on the camera.

Much tougher than I'd hoped :(

[ving]

you like challenges doncha mike! :)

still too early for me tho....

[CoombellKid]

My astro soft puts 11/12/06 at it's closest, so for visual observers you
should be able to fit all three into a low power widefield ep. The chart
I posted is for 4am on the 11th with Mercury about 5 degree above the
horizon. Should be a nice view to take in as the day dawns.

regards,CS sunny days

Rob

PS: Ooop's forgot to mention, add an hour for daylight savings

[iceman]

It was cloudy when I woke up this morning at 4am, but I decided to try my luck and went out to the Entrance for the show.

The sky was fairly clear out there, but a layer of cloud on the horizon, plus lots of haze meant I didn't see the planets at all. I should've taken my binoculars, I might've been able to pick them up with more magnification than 1x.

Anyway got some nice sunrise shots at the Entrance ocean baths :) Some small consolation.

[stephenmcnelley]

Well we saw, wait for it................................. ................................... ................................... ..............

CLOUDS and smoke haze!!!!!!!!!!!

I am doubting we will ever see blue sky again..ever.

[h0ughy]

yep the horizon cloud and smoke haze is no good. i couldn't see a thing.

[CoombellKid]

Dang I slept in, had a nice night out last night though.

But I will leave the scope setup tonight and have a quick
look see before heading off to the mill tomorrow.

regards,CS

Rob

[Dennis]

Woke up at 3:00am to pack the photo tripod, Pentax DSLR and WO 80mm for a 20km drive to the bayside. Looked out the window - wall to wall clouds, so went back to bed. Oh well, there is always tomorrow, next year, another lifetime.

Cheers

Dennis

[erick]

Big time bushfire smoke blanketing Melbourne (and the rest of Victoria) so didn't even bother waking up early.

Forecast is...........rain Monday morning - good for the fires.

Forecast is.......mostly clear Tuesday morning - maybe??

[Dennis]

Monday, 11th Dec 2006. Looking out of the window, all I see is cloud at 3:53 am. Back to bed for some more zzzzzzzzz's.

Cheers

Dennis

[Gargoyle_Steve]

Wise choice Dennis - I'm stuck inside at work for another couple of hours yet so I'll miss it either way this morning, but I do have one of my external cameras (joytick controlled) pointed towards the eastern horizon ... all I can see pretty much is clouds all across the eastern sky. There is a faint crack just above the horizon, ironically right where the sun is going to rise, but apart from that .... chunky grey photon shields!

[iceman]

I tried to see them again this morning, but forgot my binoculars again.

The sky was so bright, even at 5am, that I couldn't see any stars at 30°, let alone at 5°.

I don't think i've got any hope of seeing them.. so, I took some more sunrise shots ;)

[[1ponders]]

Same here Dennis. Checked every half hour till sunrise from 3:00. Bah! I'm getting so over this cloud.

[Muddy Diver]

Found a good ish spot and ventured out with my Dad early hours. Parents are visiting us from the UK so this was a memorable night for him! The first time he had seen Saturn.
Low cloud bank prevented any photography but sighted through the 25mm ep of the 4" Mak and a cursary shot to say we were there. Better views through the Bins! Only managed Jup and Mercury together through the scope (JUST couldnt get all three but not far off). Beautiful sunrise shots though and ended with bacon sandwiches an d a coffee on the beach. A perfect start to the day.:thumbsup: :D

[erick]

Someone got them in Turkey a day or two early - but still had cloud!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061209.html

[iceman]

Well done Muddy! Top stuff.

[Suzy_A]

Sunday morning, I crawl out of bed at 4 am, look out the window, say 'Thank God it's cloudy', go back inside, take two paracetamol tablets, drink a litre of water and crawl back into bed.

The bottle and a half of wine consumed a few hours earlier had nothing to do with it....

OK, this morning, up at 4 and it's a clear sky. Pack the car, head to the nearby park (which has a hill with clear horizon views), get out of the car - ITS SO DAMN COLD! It's suppose to be 36 C today! Fortunatly I found a jumper in the back of the car.

I set up the 'scope, just putting the camera on and glance up up Saturn and the moon and see the ISS zipping through - damn, that would have made a great photo...

So, where it Mercury, Mars, Jupiter......

Hmmm... it's getting lighter and lighter..... And my ears have just about frozen off. The sun's up and nothing to be seen... Back to home and back in bed.

I'll try again tomorrow.

So, has anyone seen anything or am I wasting my time?

[gaa_ian]

Got a look at this lovely Treo this morning.
Just managed to snap a shot too :thumbsup: , before the rising sun stole away the view.

[iceman]

There's some great images on spaceweather of the event!