Morning Planets

[Tropo-Bob]

I viewed Jupiter, Saturn and Mars high up this morning in a line of about 10 degrees. It appeared somewhat like an oversized Belt of Orion. Mercury was near the horizon. Good to see that they are back.

Mars is showing its gibbious shape with my Vixed 81mm ED at 90x. Its nice to have a light scope at that time of the morning!

[Tinderboxsky]

I am also enjoying these early morning views and watching the planet’s ever changing positions.

[Tropo-Bob]

Venus, the Crescent Moon and low Jupiter made a nice, wide, bright trio around 5.20am this morning. They should also look good tomorrow.

A closer trio was Venus and Saturn with Mars just above.

[Tinderboxsky]

Nice. The next month or so holds some real treats. I am looking forward to observing the close conjunctions coming up.

[leon]

It certainly is a view to behold especially on a nice early clear morning.

leon

[Tropo-Bob]

I had another peep this morning. The Moon made an interesting sight with its thin crescent and abundant earthshine being apparent even though the nearby sky was quite pinkish.

The Moon was below Jupiter (I was expecting it to still be above) and I was thrilled, as I rarely see it in the morning sky when it is less than 35 hours before New Moon.

I also noticed relevant movement in the above trio of planets. This will continue and on the 5th and 6th of April; Mars and Saturn will be only half a degree apart. Worth watching!

[N1]

Saw that too this morning, very neat.

[EpickCrom]

Still cloudy here in Perth but caught the attractive conjunction with Venus, Mars and Saturn this morning with the naked eye through a break in the clouds. A spectacular sight! Mars above, Saturn in the middle and Venus below.

[Tropo-Bob]

I could see both Mars and Saturn in the same field this morning using 25x and a plossl EP.

[JohnF]

I saw it on Stellarium, and told people at my outreach I would be asleep that time of the morning. Had to get up, but trees are east of where I was.

[Tropo-Bob]

And just now, I could see Mars and Saturn in the same field using 40x and a plossl EP.

[Tropo-Bob]

I have just been viewing Mars and Saturn, which are even closer together than I expected. Using 104x, I could just fit them in the same field when using a Tak ortho EP so I guess that make them about 0.4 of a degree apart.

They make a striking pair. They are both roughly equal in brightness, however the light from the smaller Mars is more intense. The red disc of Mars compared to Saturn's yellow also makes a very interesting color contrast. Furthermore, the round disc of Mars compared to Saturn's oval shape highlights how very different they are in composition.

I also pondered the fact that they are on the far side of the Sun from us and this extra distant helps shrink the apparent separation between the two planets. I guess that closest planetary conjunctions of the outer planets are when they are furthest from us.

[EpickCrom]

Hi Bob, like you I have just been observing the spectacular conjunction between Mars and Saturn. Very striking naked eye, nice red and yellow contrast and similar magnitudes. They were 19' apart when I viewed them, both fitting in the field of view at 171x. I also managed to see comet 22P/ Kopff near Venus. A lovely early morning observations!

[UniPol]

I was up around 5.00 this morning and had a peek in the east and Venus was certainly very bright but Saturn and Mars took the cake being so close together. I was tempted to set up the scope but guess I was just too lazy that time of morning, I had been out last night until late in any case, it was just nice to take in the sight.

Inside I fired up SkySafari on the Ipad and measured the distance between Saturn and Mars on the the distance scale and it changed by the second, literally! I recall it was something like 21' 16.4" separation and the seconds reading changed to 16.2" then 16.1" and so on. Currently, some 6 hours later SkySafari shows a separation of 18' 19.6" then 18' 19.7" and 8.69 AU apart. It appears they are moving apart now. The visual magnitude of Saturn is +0.9 and Mars +1.0

[Tropo-Bob]

This morning, Mars and Saturn are still close, but not as close as yesterday.

Mars has been moving Eastward at a greater pace than Saturn and has now replaced Saturn as being closer to both Venus and the dawn horizon.

[Tropo-Bob]

Venus is rapidly moving eastward and is outpacing Mars to be near Jupiter. Venus and Jupiter will be impressively close at the end of this month, whereas Mars will not be close with Jupiter till the end of May.

Venus and Mars were close a few weeks back and seeing their relative movement to the East has really cemented in my mind that Venus can move more quickly than Mars.

However, I notice that the Moon joins in the groupings from the 26th to the 28th. That really brings home to me that the Moon is the fastest moving body in our skies. Oh, I know this is apparent motion only, not true speed, and omits meteors, close asteroids, machines, etc. :)

[Tropo-Bob]

Today, the morning planets were roughly-evenly-spaced about 10 to 12 degrees apart. Saturn and Mars toped the line, then come the brilliant Venus, which is rapidly on its way to its close encounter with Jupiter.

[EpickCrom]

I can't wait for the close encounter between Venus and Jupiter. It's on May 1 st and should be spectacular!

[Tropo-Bob]

Venus and Jupiter closed to about six degrees apart this morning and were like a supercharged version of Alpha and Beta Centauri.

The Crescent Moon was near Mars and Saturn is now located far higher than the others.

[EpickCrom]

Got up early this morning and observed the Venus/Neptune conjunction. They were seperated by around 5' while I was observing them. Nice contrast between brilliant white Venus and cool blue Neptune. Best view was at 150x with both in the field of view:)

[Tropo-Bob]

Well done!
I tried to see Neptune but I assumed that it was lost in the glare.

Here's the Moon, Jupiter and Venus this morning.

[EpickCrom]

Nice shots there Bob:thumbsup:

[Tropo-Bob]

It has commenced!

This morning I was able to see Venus and Jupiter in the same field of view at 25x using a plossl EP. They will be even closer for the next few days.

I also managed to take some Iphone shots using a 2x setting. The crescent Moon is also visible.

[Tinderboxsky]

This morning was the first clear sky opportunity for me - I have missed all the action so far, unfortunately.

Anyhow, a glorious view this morning. Jupiter with it’s Moons and Venus were in the same FOV of my 85mm scope at 20X. Venus is certainly bright.

The cloud forecast here for the Sunday morning close approach is dismal!

[Saturnine]

1st clear morning for me for quite a while as well, have been eager to get a look at the morning sky and the planet parade. Was not disappointed either, a lovely view of the early dawn sky and a thin crescent moon below the planets. Didn't have much time, with the approaching dawn , so grabbed the 9 X 60 binos for a perusal of the scene then grabbed the camera and lens' for some happy snaps.
Sunday mornings forecast is not encouraging , for the close conjunction, with thick coastal cloud again. Might have better luck with the weather on Monday morning but the planets wont be as close by then, will still be a fine sight though.

[Averton]

We decided to get up early this morning as a test run for Sunday morning's conjunction. It didn't go well ... clouds, twilight, strong wind and abysmal seeing. Hopefully this isn't an indication on all fronts for Sunday, although playing with the clouds looks like a bit of a certainty. All of the planet images were taken with a 6" SCT with a 2.5x barlow and an ASI224MC camera. The Venus image used an ADC which was probably a mistake as we should have used it for all the images.

[Tropo-Bob]

Good to see U guys and ur images.

Venus and Jupiter were about 1 degree apart this morning. I could just fit them in the same field at 52x when using a plossl EP.

The brilliance of Jupiter is outmatched by the intense brilliance of Venus. Jupiter looks a creamy white in comparison to the clean, white light of Venus.

Below are Iphone images taken at 1x, 2x and 3x settings.

[Saturnine]

Hi All
Cloudy and rain again this morning so no observation or images possible.
Weather prospects for this area are still looking good for tomorrow mornings close encounter. Just for an added bit of interest, there will be an shadow transit of Ganymede underway as Jupiter rises in the morning, egress at 4:59am EST, so the planet may be high enough to be able to see some detail, depending on the seeing in the morning. A moderate jet stream is predicted so some close ups may be possible.

[Dave882]

Yes it’s looking promising! Clear Outside has it clear most of the night but with a bit of low cloud rolling in about 4am so I’m hoping it’s coming from the west!

[Tropo-Bob]

This morning, I could easily see Venus and Jupiter in the same field at 100x using an ortho EP. I estimated the distance between them to be slightly less than 0.3 degrees.

Venus was not quite yet perpendicular to Jupiter and its moons. I assume this shows that I viewed it in an hour or so before closest approach.

Jupiter's disc looked much larger than that of Venus. Side by side, Jupiter looked to be just shy of twice as large, but it was a different scenario when looking at Jupiter' equatorial diameter. Then it looked slightly more than twice the size. Thus having Venus in view really brought home to me the amount of Jupiter's pole flatting.

Jupiter's size was also flattered by it being a 'full' disc, whereas Venus was distinctly gibbous.

As dawn approach, Jupiter faded into a ghostly resemblance of its former glory. In contrast, Venus continued to shine brightly.

Below as some images taken with my Iphone with settings up to 8x. I also managed, a poor, but educational image by using the Iphone with my 80mm ED scope.

[Tinderboxsky]

Great catch, Bob. Clouds here ... grumble, grumble.

[Saturnine]

Really enjoy everyones' descriptions and images, despite the obstructions the weather provides. Clear when I went to bed last night, clearish, with a few clouds scurrying by when I looked out the window about 4:30. By the time I assembled the gear and headed out the door the sky was now 7/8 cloud. Gave up the idea of using a scope, set up the camera, Canon 550d, and tripod in the hope of some gaps in the cloud base.
Between 5:00 and 6:00am there were a few fortuitous moments when Jupiter and Venus managed to peek through and managed to grab a few images. The irony is that by mid morning it was mostly clear again, just to thumb its nose at me (us).

Cheers All

[Tinderboxsky]

Your lucky images have come out well, Jeff.

[EpickCrom]

I saw Venus and Jupiter in conjunction earlier this morning. Really amazing sight! They almost looked like one giant bright white star. The seperation was 14'. Astronomy is so amazing:eyepop:

[Dave882]

Beautiful morning and clouds cleared just before sunrise. Took this shot with the iPhone and a couple others with the scope that I’ll need to process later.

[pgc hunter]

Got blessed with clear nights both this morning for the main event, and yesterday aswell. Went out at 5.00am with my 130mm newtonian and took some pics through it with my cheap Motorola smartphone. Still almost fully dark, couldn't stay out for dawn as I had to head off to work.

[Tropo-Bob]

Venus is now on the downward side of Jupiter.

Taken with my Iphone at 1x & 2x settings.

[Tropo-Bob]

A little recap of Venus's close approach with Jupiter: Before, during and after.

[Tinderboxsky]

Excellent, Bob. Thanks for sharing. Clouds spoilt the whole show here.

[Saturnine]

The images pretty well sum up how I saw the conjunction over the past week, apart from slightly different cloud interventions due to being 2000 km away from Cairns. Certainly has been enjoyable to watch the dance of the planets in the morning sky. Getting out of bed to do it was not so fun, especially on the cloudy mornings, easy to do a U turn though.

[Tropo-Bob]

Mars is now closing in on Jupiter and they will be closest on Sunday Morning (May 29th.) Today, the Moon is nearby.

I was lucky to get a break this morning that enabled me to take this clear shot.

[Tropo-Bob]

Today, I was just able to fit Mars and Jupiter into the same field at the prime focus of a 480mm scope.

The line up of Venus, the Moon, Jupiter and Mars was very striking when viewed with just the naked eye.

[Tropo-Bob]

The Moon and Venus were close this morning as were Jupiter and Mars.

[Saturnine]

Hi Troppo

Managed to extricate myself from the warm bed this morning just in time , as the sky was brightening, 6:00am ish. First clear skies for a while and the moon and planets line up was very pretty, with the purplish dawn sky. Had intended to be up earlier as I wanted to set up a scope and capture the Io transit and Red Spot on Jupiter, but was bit late to set up for that. Will upload some photos later, nothing spectacular though.

[Tropo-Bob]

Hi Jeff,

I hope U have better weather soon. Last night was our first really decent night this year!

Fortunately, mornings are generally better than evenings.

[Tropo-Bob]

Mars has moved past Jupiter last night.

There is a faint star near Mars that makes it look like it has a new Moon.

[Saturnine]

Noticed that this morning when I was having a look at the conjunction, that there was a faint star near Mars pretending to be a new satellite and Jupiters' moons spread out either side of the disc. Had lovely clear, if unsteady skies making for an enjoyable interlude this morning, though quite cool temps.

[Averton]

Great picture Bob.

Glad you got to see it Jeff.
All we had was clouds :(

It looks like it is now Melbourne's turn to have ordinary astronomy weather for a bit.

[Tropo-Bob]

I saw all five planets this morning. Mercury was approximately twelve degrees below Venus.

[Averton]

:thumbsup:

[Tropo-Bob]

Mars was near the Moon this morning. The conditions were a little hazy, so I tried to use a shot where the haze was more interesting.

Take with a Cannon M50 at prime focus of a Tak 100mm F7.4

[meltaxa]

I caught the same Mars and Earthshine action too.

Taken with a Panasonic Lumix G9 attached to a Sky-Watcher Evostar 100ED with a 0.85 focal reducer. Both objects just made it into the frame.

[EpickCrom]

Rats, I missed this one! Sky was clear this morning but I was tucked in bed:rolleyes:

[Saturnine]

The Moon / Mars pairing this morning was a pleasant sight. At closest, Mars was almost lost in the glare of Luna to the naked eye. In binos' , as the posted photos also show, it was a close conjunction, less than 1/2 degree, well worth the effort of being up at that time of the morning despite the temperature.

[EpickCrom]

Awesome photos guys, looks like it was a fine conjunction :thumbsup:

[Averton]

Great captures Bob and Dennis :thumbsup:
All clouds here, so it is very nice to see your images.

[Tropo-Bob]

This morning, I was fortunate to catch Mercury just beneath the Hyades.

The bright one is of course, Venus.

I was also pleased with my view of the Pleaides.

[Averton]

Excellent shot Bob. :thumbsup:

[Dennis]

I'll add my efforts from this morning to the post, I drove 85 kms to Toorbul to get a nice horizon.

Taken with the Canon EOS R5 and RF 15-35mm F2.8L lens at approx. 16mm, ISO1600, 30 secs, F5.6 on my Tak EM200 mount.

Cheers

Dennis

[EpickCrom]

Bob and Dennis, outstanding photos!:thumbsup:

[Crater101]

I'll second that. Very well done indeed. I've had nothing but clouds in the evenings and fog in the mornings. For a week!

[EpickCrom]

After a cloudy night, I was up early this morning and greeted by clear skies ( and freezing temperatures!)

Got my solar system viewing in, Saturn's ring tilt has certainly narrowed since last year. Subtle cloud bands and three of its moons visible. Lovely sight. Jupiter looked amazing, both equatorial belts visible. Mars is showing a gibbous phase and slowly increasing in size. My scope wasn't fully cooled but still nice to get a look at the planets. Clear skies to all!

[Tropo-Bob]

Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Venus are stretched across the entire predawn skies, but not for much longer.

I viewed them with my Tak FC100 this morning.

Saturn is now becoming low in the West and is about to disappear from the morning skiers. Nevertheless, it looked impressive, which just shows how much better it is near Opposition.

Jupiter has become more luminous, as it also nears Opposition. I spotted the shadow of one of its moons.

Mars has also become bigger and brighter, but still has a way to go before becoming really speculator.

Venus is fading, although it is still the brightest. It rises in the pink of the predawn skies and will soon be lost to accompany the Sun for a while.

[Tinderboxsky]

Great report, Bob. Clouds are spoiling my early morning views.