Venus And Jupiter Are Amazing Tonight!

[cyclonic happiness]

Well, just had a look at the sky and thought "what are those two bright stars near the moon?" , well, after a bit of googling, I found out they were Venus and Jupiter and they'll be visible near the moon for a week or so!

So, then I grabbed my camera and took my first two planet pictures....what do you think?

Venus is the brighter of the two atm.

Venus.

Jupiter, you can see the banding and spot I think?..

Anyway, Let's see if anyone else can get better shots?

[Backtrack]

Yep, they are extremely bright!

My pictures are pretty much the same as yours, I cannot better them, no matter what settings I put my camera on. You'd need something a very expensive camera to be able to get better imo.

The moon is also sensational!

I would love a telescope right now.

[Andy Bown]

Yes I've been following their positioning over the last 5 nights (well when the sky has been clear). On Saturday and Sunday evenings they made a triangle

and this evening is the first clear evening since and I was surprised to see them in a straight line earlier.

[stewfox]

Anyway, Let's see if anyone else can get better shots?

The moon std exposure (Digital camera ex-2 1080), Jupiter with a (X5std EL40) and Venus with same

Edited February 29, 2012 by stewfox

[Supercell]

Amazing shots guys.

Anyone seen Mercury ? I saw it for the first time tonight. It's faint in comparison to Jupiter and Venus and quite low on the horizon, but easily visible just after sunset.

Edited February 29, 2012 by Supercell

[Backtrack]

The moon std exposure (Digital camera ex-2 1080), Jupiter with a (X5std EL40) and Venus with same

No chance in hell did you take those last 2 shots!!!

[cyclonic happiness]

The moon std exposure (Digital camera ex-2 1080), Jupiter with a (X5std EL40) and Venus with same

are you sure that's venus? it seems to be missing it's atmosphere?

I got a great shot of Mars too, and you can even make out the ice cap!! I'll post shortly. it's amazing to think there all visible tonight!!!

[Backtrack]

are you sure that's venus? it seems to be missing it's atmosphere?

I got a great shot of Mars too, and you can even make out the ice cap!! I'll post shortly. it's amazing to think there all visible tonight!!!

Even though my camera is great, they just look like dots in the sky, and that's at x30 zoom.

Any tips? :lol:

[cyclonic happiness]

Here we go, oh and I forgot to say what my camera is, it's a Fujifilm Finepix s1800 with x18 zoom and 12 megapixels.

Here's mars anyway .

[cyclonic happiness]

Even though my camera is great, they just look like dots in the sky, and that's at x30 zoom.

Any tips? :lol:

take the photo anyway and a timer so it doesn't shake, also I used a tripod.

I then zoomed in and cropped the photo, but that's it, no other modification.

I think maybe that I have a few megapixels to work with, that make a difference too.

But I'm no expert, that's why I'm so thrilled with the results

[Crepuscular Ray]

It's called NASA JPL's planetary photolibrary, I suspect.

Edit, that's about Stewfox's Venus image - which looks like nothing so much as a Magellan spacecraft radar map of Venus - radar being the only way to image the surface of the planet because of the thick atmosphere. At the moment, Venus isn't full anyway, but waning.

Edited February 29, 2012 by crepuscular ray

[Backtrack]

take the photo anyway and a timer so it doesn't shake, also I used a tripod.

I then zoomed in and cropped the photo, but that's it, no other modification.

I think maybe that I have a few megapixels to work with, that make a difference too.

But I'm no expert, that's why I'm so thrilled with the results

Oooo, I didn't zoom in after the shot had been taken. Let me see what I can do with Venus

Thanks!

[toggerob]

This weekends Occultation, Jupiter at the top, Venus and the Moon at the bottom with a few degree's seperation of each other.

A quick shot (through windows) of Mercury as it was setting today (29th Feb),

I have a Fujifilm s1730 myself with a HAMAS tripod for short-exposures. The camera only goes up to 8s exposure shots at best so it's good for planetary shots with a wide-field, but anything closer and I think one of these webcams/telescopic adaptors with software I'll have to invest in.

[mountain shadow]

Didn't know they had a pyramid in Whaley Bridge.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

I suspect your photos are just showing either an out of focus disc or what's called pixel oversampling. Venus is well nigh impossible to photograph and would be displaying a half phase as the Moon does. It would be possible to distinguish a disc of Jupiter with a long enough lens, but you'd need at least 300mm I'd have thought. As for Mars, well that's tiny even through a telescope at relatively high power.

Right, I'm off to steal some kid's pocket money.

[stewfox]

No chance in hell did you take those last 2 shots!!!

Can anyone take better shots, I showed people can

[Crepuscular Ray]

Can anyone take better shots, I showed people can

In the case of Venus, you showed a spacecraft orbiting above its surface using radar images can!

[cyclonic happiness]

I suspect your photos are just showing either an out of focus disc or what's called pixel oversampling. Venus is well nigh impossible to photograph and would be displaying a half phase as the Moon does. It would be possible to distinguish a disc of Jupiter with a long enough lens, but you'd need at least 300mm I'd have thought. As for Mars, well that's tiny even through a telescope at relatively high power.

Right, I'm off to steal some kid's pocket money.

You grumpy sod!