Night Sky Photography -- 10-12-2026 -- Morning Planets & Stars & Mars With The Beehive

On the morning of Monday, October 12th (Columbus Day here in the Americas) about 50 minutes before sunrise, I took this great shots of the eastern sky with the planets Jupiter & Mars along with the brightest stars of the constellations Gemini the Twins (Pollux), Canis Minor (Procyon), Leo the Lion (Regulus), and Hydra the Sea Serpent (Alphard).

The second shot is a close-up of Mars showing it close to the faint Beehive Star Cluster (Praesepe/M44) which is a part of the constellation Cancer The Crab.

 
The planet Mars was actually inside the open cluster over the weekend of October 10th and 11th, however overcast skies and rain from the recent tropical storm prevented me from getting a good shot of that event unfortunately. Still, I'm proud of how this photo came out, showing the orange-tinted 4th planet of our Solar System with the faint cluster of stars.

The Beehive Cluster (M44) is estimated to be at a distance of about 610 light-years (or 187 parsecs) from our Sun. 

Mars will continue to be a part of the faint constellation Cancer itself for about two more weeks till its orbit takes it further eastward towards Jupiter and a conjunction with the large gas giant in November.

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Night Sky Photography -- 10-06/07-2026 -- The Moon & Planet Parade In Eastern Sky

Greetings fellow amateur stargazers!

Over the last few mornings I woke up about an hour, or so, before sunrise to capture a few wonderful shots of a couple of night sky wonders over the course of two days.

The first shots, taken on Tuesday, October 6th, show our beautiful moon in the early morning sky about 45 minutes before sunrise with the large planet, Jupiter, and its four largest moons visible. About two hours before, Luna occulted (passed in front of) Jupiter in its orbit eastward towards the sunrise. The photos I took show the planet emerging from behind the moon along with a close-up shot detailing the gas giant planet's four largest visible moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

The second set of photos, taken on Wednesday, October 7th, show our lovely crescent moon leading a parade of planets that include Jupiter and Mars, as well as the bright star, Regulus -- the brightest object in the Constellation Leo the Lion.

 

The first shot shows Luna along with Regulus and the two planets aligned in a "parade" headed towards the rising sun in the eastern sky about 45 minutes before sunrise.

The next is a close-up of Mars, which is currently about 149,615, 458 miles (or 240,731,272 kilometers -- about 1.61 Astronomical Units) away from Earth and on its way towards its next opposition to Earth in February of 2027, so the Red Planet will be get bigger and more visible in the night sky.

The third shot is another close-up of Jupiter and three of its large moons (Europa was hiding behind Jupiter). Jupiter is currently about 540,213,623 miles (or 869,203,719 kilometers -- about 5.81 AUs) from the Earth.

Regulus is actually a quadruple star system made up of two pairs of bright stars about 79 light years (or 24.2 parsecs) from our Solar System. Collectively the Regulus system is the twenty-first brightest star in the night sky as seen from Earth.

I hope to have more night sky photography soon, there are several celestial events that I am hoping to being y'all images of happening later this month. Stay tuned and keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all.

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