Jupiter, Mars, Aldebaran & the Pleiades has already become an attractive grouping in the Morning sky. The crescent Moon transits though on the 30th & 31st July and that may present to be an interesting arrangement for wide-field photographers.
Stellarium is showing they will be even closer on the morning of the 15th August for my location (Sydney). Probably the EarthSky site is for the North Americans living in the past .
Silly question, should I be up, and my equipment not be frozen solid in my back room, what combination of scope/lens would be best to capture this (clear skies permitting)?
I can use my Nikon with a 300mm f4.5 lens and a 2 times teleconvertor with a simple tripod from anywhere in my back yard or I could go to the bother of setting up my mount with a scope but the set up wouldn't be the most accurate and I wouldn't have time to get correct alignment (unless I sleep out in the yard with my equipment in sub zero temperatures).
Then I have the issue of a big hole I dug where my mount goes with the intention of putting my pier in but a combination of weather, health and personal problems have pushed that back considerably and I don't like setting my mount up over a hole full of water. There's no way humanly possible for me to get it done within the next week, I have bigger problems.
Is a 600mm focal length suitable to capture a reasonable image with a full frame sensor (I could go back to my old Nikon D80 APS-C camera)?
I also have a combination of same 300mm lens (f4.5) with an old 1.5 times Olympus ED extension lens from an old Olympus IS1000 film camera which apparently won't require the standard 2 stop speed reduction and a suitable adapter to fit to give a focal length of 450mm.
Or an f2.8 80-200 Nikon ED lens with same 2 times teleconvertor. That gives me a faster image. I don't have an adapter to use the old Olympus glass on the 200mm lens.
I'm guessing whichever combination would only give me small dots in the sky and nothing overly good?
Got some pics from my front yard (through the trees & power lines) this morning starting 5:20am. I think I need to do some gardening on the weekend to un-obstruct my view.
These are using a Player1 Uranus-C (IMX585) camera. Wide field is using 12mm lens and slightly closer is a 50mm lens. Jupiter is completely blown out in both, but you can see some of its moons with the 50mm lens.
Thanks Derrick!
Was those images taken on a guided mount?
I have a decent range of Nikon lenses which will go on my D810, D80 or Player One Neptune. The guided mount is currently not an option. Unless I set it up elsewhere in my un-level yard and take the time to find true south (solar noon) prior and lay (peg) some steel out with feet holes for accurate alignment and level.
Thanks again Derrick, I can easily set up a tripod early in the morning. Otherwise if I do set up my mount I sleep out in sub zero temperatures with my gear. Last time I did that it started raining 5 minutes before the eclipse was due (lunar eclipse some years back).
I don't need great shots but I'd still like to get a few if possible.
Here's what Stellarium says you should be able to see on the morning of the 14th. Using the full frame camera @ 600mm FL will also give you several days leeway where they'll still be in frame, in case of bad weather.
Just got back in from observing the Mars and Jupiter conjunction. I used my F11 900mm refractor with a Svbony 7mm-21mm zoom lens. I also used my 15mm BST/Paradigm/Starguider 15mm and 7x50 binoculars. The zoom gave me a good view of the duo, but the 15mm starguider was better because of the wider view. Was able to bring the Jupiter bands into sharp focus. However, Mars pretty and bright orange could not be brought into sharp focus with Jupiter's focus. However, Mars came close enough in focus for an outstanding observation.
In this hobby we all go though a journey of different observation tools. We try different types of telescopes, eyepieces, and brands. The best view came with my 7x50 binoculars. Mars looked like a very big and bright orange Betelguese. Jupiter was sharp with it's moons. With the binoculars I got a 3D greater in depth view of the duo. Mars was behind and higher than Jupiter. I really feel that a set of 125mm ED 90 degree binoculars is in my astronomy hobby future.
Just got back in from observing the Mars and Jupiter conjunction. I used my F11 900mm refractor with a Svbony 7mm-21mm zoom lens. I also used my 15mm BST/Paradigm/Starguider 15mm and 7x50 binoculars. The zoom gave me a good view of the duo, but the 15mm starguider was better because of the wider view. Was able to bring the Jupiter bands into sharp focus. However, Mars pretty and bright orange could not be brought into sharp focus with Jupiter's focus. However, Mars came close enough in focus for an outstanding observation.
In this hobby we all go though a journey of different observation tools. We try different types of telescopes, eyepieces, and brands. The best view came with my 7x50 binoculars. Mars looked like a very big and bright orange Betelguese. Jupiter was sharp with it's moons. With the binoculars I got a 3D greater in depth view of the duo. Mars was behind and higher than Jupiter. I really feel that a set of 125mm ED 90 degree binoculars is in my astronomy hobby future.
Great job refractordude! I observed the planetary duo on Tue 13 Aug when they were 55' apart using my 10x50mm binoculars. A fabulous sight! I couldn't observe them this morning due to clouds. I agree re the 3D effect while using binoculars.
Good stuff guys! Unfortunately the weather hasn't been cooperative here in Sydney. Maybe I'll catch a break tomorrow or Saturday, and can get some photos.
There is Saturn with the Moon on the 20th of this month. If weather permits I will use my 20x80 binoculars. Would have used the 20x80 last night but was missing a mount screw just found. Yeah the 3D effect is awesome.
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