| NOTES |
DATE:
|
Sunday,
December 10, 2006
|
TIME:
|
7:11 am EST |
CAMERA:
|
Canon
EOS 300D Digital Rebel
|
| EXPOSURES: |
0.5
second @ ISO 400 |
LOCATION:
|
Richland
Township Park
|
INSTRUMENT:
|
Tele Vue Pronto 70 mm refractor (with Focal Reducer/Field
Flattener) on an unguided equatorial mount |
PROCESSING:
|
Levels
and curves
adjusted with Adobe Photoshop 7.0
|
COMMENTS:
|
A rare
triple conjunction of Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars occurred in early
December shortly before sunrise. According to reports, three
planets haven't been this close together since 1925 and they won't be
again until 2029. So, I was shocked that it was actually going to
be (mostly) clear during the early morning hours of December 9 and
10. The
brightest object visible is Jupiter. Mercury is only
0.3° above Jupiter. To the right of the close pair is distant
Mars, which completes the tiny triagnle
of planets. Mars even has a hint of red if you look
closely.
Beta Scorpii is just visible to the upper left of Mercury. |
|
