Triangle plus Moon

[icytailmark (Mark)]

you guys see the triangle pattern (saturn,mars,and spica) plus the moon next to it tonight? You dont see that very often

[icytailmark (Mark)]

you will be able to see it again tommorow night but the moon will be higher in the sky

[Aidan (Aidan)]

Friends were asking me about the triangular constellation in the northwest. Wasn't until they pointed at it that i worked out what they were talking about.

I had about 30 minutes of clear sky which I got some nice views of Saturn, and got to test out a new barlow.

It is almost an equilateral triangle in the northwest amazing to see.


Aidan

[Paddy (Patrick)]

The conjunction of the planets and Spica has been fantastic. I only wish the sky was clear to see the moon join them.

[Aidan (Aidan)]

Quick shot... But it is still pretty cool to see.

First shots playing with the wifes camera, after some instruction on how not to break it.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Here's my little effort for tonight taken from my backyard, with a plane taking off from the nearby airport tracking just to the right of Saturn, with Mars just to the right of the Moon.

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

And here's mine, just before Spica and Saturn vanished behind the garage. A shorter exposure of the Moon overlaid. Interesting how changing the white balance to "incandescent" removed most of the skyglow but left a slight blue cast.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Hi Mark , yes i seen and photographed it as well it cooled cool . I have been watching the triangle for a fortnight now and 2 weeks ago it was the perfect Eq triangle , then Mars pulled away and stretched it but its retrograde movement has brougt it back to form an Eq triangle with spica and saturn again , cool.
My shot is in the 'Beginners astrophotography ' section under ' Quadruple line up " .
Brian.

Originally Posted by icytailmark

you guys see the triangle pattern (saturn,mars,and spica) plus the moon next to it tonight? You dont see that very often

[ZeroID (Brent)]

We've had quite a few interesting conjunctions lately haven't we ? That was an unexpected one and quite nice to see.
Actually had a night out under the stars last night, first clear sky in weeks. Having made a pile of modifications in the ob and scope I spent all night trying to get them all sorted out and the photos suffered. Between that and the unexpected dew point ( thick fog next morning !! ) all I got was blur. Trying to do too much at once.

[andyc (Andy)]

Originally Posted by brian nordstrom

Hi Mark , yes i seen and photographed it as well it cooled cool . I have been watching the triangle for a fortnight now and 2 weeks ago it was the perfect Eq triangle , then Mars pulled away and stretched it but its retrograde movement has brougt it back to form an Eq triangle with spica and saturn again , cool.
My shot is in the 'Beginners astrophotography ' section under ' Quadruple line up " .
Brian.

It was cool, wasn't it! Very pretty last night with the Moon too.

<nit>
Mars wasn't retrograding - it passed from NW to SE through the 'gate' of the Saturn-Spica pair. Starting as a long triangle with Mars at the 'bottom' (from southern hemisphere) at the beginning of the month, Mars' movement took it to make an equilateral triangle (Mars at bottom), then a straight line last week with Mars in the middle, and then to now, with Mars pulling away, making a triangle that has Mars at the 'top'. Mars only retrogrades close to its oppositions.
</end nit, sorry for being picky!>.

Pretty special, and I'd guess fairly unusual sequence of events.