Night Sky Photography -- 02-01-2026 -- The Full Snow Moon After The Snowstorm

Good evening fellow stargazers!

Tonight, I captured some outstanding photos of February's full moon in the evening sky, along with a beautiful show of Jupiter and the bright star, Sirius, rising in the eastern sky between the recently snow-covered trees.

The February full moon is known as the Full Snow Moon here in North America -- a beautiful irony since it's a day following the bomb cyclone that hit the Carolinas; ushering in more snowfall that we usually see in these parts, even in the winter!

The first shot shows Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, with the bright twin stars, Castor and Pollux, close by. A close-up of Jupiter shows three of its four largest moons: Callisto, Ganymede, and Io. Europa, the fourth moon, was currently behind Jupiter in its rotation. Sirius, the Dog Star, is nearby further to the southeast clearly visible through the bare trees (a few of which still have snow on them).

The Full Snow Moon is hidden behind the trees for another hour before finally appearing in all her glory. The final shot is the close-up of our lovely full Luna.

A fun fact: because the month of February only has 28 days and the full moon on average only happens once every 29-30 days, there are years where there is no full moon in February! This only happens about once every 19 years, give or take. The last time that happened was in 2018. The next time February won’t have a full moon will be in 2037.

Night Sky Photography -- 09-01-2025 -- Venus and Jupiter In The Early Morning Sky

Hello fellow stargazers!

Early this Labor Day morning at about forty-five minutes before sunrise, I captured a couple of really good shots of the planets Venus and Jupiter just ahead of the rising sun in the eastern sky.

Venus can be seen through the trees shining brightly with Jupiter overhead above. Nearby are a couple of the brighter stars still visible: Procyon in the Constellation Canis Minor (the Lesser Dog) and Pollux in the Constellation Gemini The Twins.

A close-up shot of Jupiter shows all four of the giant gas planet's largest moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto -- all in a nearly straight line. At present Jupiter sits inside the Constellation Gemini near the star Wasat (Delta Geminorum).

Well, that's all I have for now, but I will have more planetary and night sky photography coming later this month. Until then have a wonderful Dixie day and a happy Labor Day, y'all!

Night Sky Photography -- 11-01/02-2023 -- Jupiter Closest To Earth For 2023

Late yesterday evening I was able to capture a pair of great shots of the Planet Jupiter and its four largest moons, along with the Constellation Aries the Ram.

Jupiter’s perigee -- or its closest point to the Earth for 2023 -- comes on the night of Wednesday, November 1 & Thursday, November 2 when the distance between our Earth and the largest planet in our Solar System will be approximately 370 million miles (or 595 million kilometers, or 33.10 light-minutes) apart.

Less than 24 hours later at about 1 a.m. EST on the night of Friday, November 3, 2023, Jupiter will reach its opposition to Earth when our planet's smaller orbit takes it between the Sun and Jupiter. At opposition, Jupiter will shine as the 4th-brightest object in the sky, after the sun, the moon and the planet Venus.

In my first photo, you can see the close-up of the four largest moons of Jupiter -- Callisto, Io, Europa, and Ganymede. In the second photo, you can see a wider shot of bright Jupiter  and its just visible moons beneath the four brightest stars of the Constellation Aries The Ram -- in addition to the small Constellation Triangulum The Triangle and the nearby Pleiades Star Cluster.

These are just the first of what I hope are going to be several more beautiful night sky offerings as viewed from my corner of South Carolina for the month of November. Stay tuned.

Night Sky Photography -- 08-08-2023 -- Last Quarter Moon & Jupiter with Galilean Moons

This afternoon and early evening we had some more of those hit-and-run thunderstorms that our little corner of Dixie is famous for in the summer months, as well as cloud cover, which thankfully cleared up just after midnight.

I was up kinda late and was able to capture some outstanding late night photos of the Last Quarter Moon in the night sky, along with the planet Jupiter and its four largest moons about 90 minutes after moonrise in the eastern sky.

As you can see from my first photo, the position of the Last Quarter moon with the Earth's shadow across the half of the beautiful Lunar surface is almost perfectly in line with the position of Jupiter just below and to the right of our view here on Earth. In the second close-up photos you can see the details of our lovely Luna's surface evenly covered by the Earth's shadow across the face of the Man-In-The-Moon.

In my third and fourth close-up photos, y'all can make out the bright planet Jupiter and its four famous Galilean (Jovian) satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto; all of them just below Luna with the heavenly bodies separated at about 2 degrees (or about three full moon widths) apart. 

The the present time Jupiter is currently 444.8 million miles (about 722.4 million kilometers, or 4.8 AUs) from Earth, with the light from both the gas giant planet and its moons taking about 40 minutes to reach us here on the Earth's surface.

With my final four shots of the evening I captured some beautiful wide shots with the Last Quarter Moon and Jupiter with the fast-moving clouds moving past them overhead. Overall, a really good series of photos for the evening (or early morning depending on how y'all look at it). I truly hope y'all enjoyed them as much as I enjoy presenting them to y'all.

Night Sky Photography -- 02-22-2023 -- Five Moons In One Photo!

Greetings and Salutations, fellow night sky enthusiasts!

I've been monitoring the progress of the planets Jupiter and Venus as they slowly begin moving ever closer to the Wednesday, March 1, 2023 conjunction in the evening sky.

This evening I set up my tripod and camera near SC Hwy 321 to get a good background and foreground shot of how the two planets and the Young Crescent Moon appear to travelers.

I was about to get a really outstanding shot of the road and traveling cars with the heavenly display in the background. Then another close-up shot of Luna's lovely crescent form next to Jupiter and Venus just above the tree-line. Then two more close-ups of the Moon and Jupiter....and when I reviewed my pictures to edit and label, I found I'd captured not just one, but five moons in my close-up.

Jupiter's four largest moons: Io, Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa all appear in the close-ups with our own moon looming large in the foreground.

 

Although the four Galilean Satellites (or Jovian Moons) appear very small compared to our own Luna because of the distances -- Jupiter currently sits at approximately 536 million miles, (or 862.6 kilometers) from our Earth -- in actuality three of the moons that orbit the largest gas giant planet are actually larger than our own Moon, which is actually the 5th largest of the estimated 200+ moons and satellites that orbit the other planets in our Solar System.

Luna, our own lovely lady, has an equatorial diameter of 2,159.2 miles (3,475 km).

Jupiter's closest and smallest of the four Galilean Moons is Io, which has a equatorial diameter of 2,260 miles (3,640 km) -- about less than a few percent larger.

The next moon, Europa, has an equatorial diameter of 1,940 miles (3,100 km) -- or only about 90% of the Moon's diameter.

Ganymede is actually the largest moon in our Solar System with an equatorial diameter of 3,275 miles (5,270 km), which makes it slightly larger than the planets Mercury which has a diameter of 3,030 miles (4,878 km) and Pluto (which is STILL a planet!) at 1,473 miles (2,370 km).

And finally we have Callisto, which has an equatorial diameter or 2,995 miles (or 4,821 km).

Another fun fact is that all of those four Jovian Moons actually orbit Jupiter farther than our own Moon actually does, though the tidal forces of the largest planet of the Solar System causes them to orbit much faster.

Our own Lunar satellite orbits the Earth at an average of about 238,855 miles (384,399 km) -- about the space that could be occupied by 30 Earths. The Moon travels around our planet once every 27.3 days in an elliptical orbit that varies at certain times of the year.

Io travels around Jupiter at an average distance of 262,000 miles (422,000 kilometers) from the gas giant, and orbits the planet once every 42 hours, or 1.8 Earth days.

Europa is next out at about 417,000 miles (671,000 kilometers) and orbits Jupiter once every 85 Earth hours, or about three-and-a-half Earth days.

Ganymede is about 665,000 miles (1,070,000 kilometers) from Jupiter completes one orbit at about 172 hours, or just over one Earth week.

And finally, Callisto sits at about 1,170,000 miles (1,883,000 kilometers) and takes about 17 Earth days to complete one orbit of the planet.

Well my friends, I hope y'all learned something new and interesting about one of our more interesting planetary neighbors today. Also keep watching the skies (on hopefully blessedly storm-free evenings) for Jupiter and Venus to meet in conjunction soon.

Till then have a blessed evening and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all.

Night Sky Photography -- 12-01-2022 -- The Moon & Jupiter With Galilean Moons

Good evening fellow stargazers!

Earlier this evening a couple hours after sunset, I was able to capture the Waxing Gibbous Moon and Jupiter, along with the four visible moons of the largest planet in our Solar System. The photos came out beautifully and captured all of the heavenly bodies perfectly.

The largest planet of our solar system, Jupiter, has about 80 known moons in total. Of these about 57 are officially named with the further 23 awaiting confirmation and naming by the International Astronomical Union.

These moons orbiting Jupiter form a satellite system which is called the Jovian System.

The largest of these moons are the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, which were independently discovered on January 8, 1610 by European astronomers Galileo Galilei and Simon Marius and were the first celestial objects found to orbit a body that was neither the Earth or the Sun.

A composite image of photographs of the four Galilean Moons shows (from left to right):
Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/DLR.

The four Galilean Moons are Jupiter's inner moons with regular orbits, while the rest of the smaller outer moons are on irregular orbits. The Galileans are also round moons, while the other Jovians have irregular shapes -- some of them possibly captured asteroids rather than true moons.

All the other smaller Jovian moons measure at less than 160 miles (250 kilometers) in diameter, with about 60 of the smaller satellites measuring less than 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) in diameter making them virtually invisible from the surface of the Earth even with a good telescope.  

Io is the innermost Galilean moon with a diameter of 2,260 miles (3,640 km) and a rotation period of 1.8 days around Jupiter at a distance of 262,200 miles (422,000 kilometers).

Europa is the smallest of the Galilean moons with a diameter of 1,940 miles (3,100 km) and a rotation period of 3.6 days around Jupiter at a distance of 417,000 miles (671,000 kilometers).

Ganymede is the largest of the Galilean moons, and the largest moon in the Solar System with a diameter of 3,270 miles (5,260 kilometers) and a rotation of 7.2 days around Jupiter at a distance of 665,000 miles (1,070,000 kilometers).

Callisto is the outermost of the Galilean moons, and the second largest moon of Jupiter with a diameter of 2,995 miles (4,820 km) and a rotation period of 16.7 days around Jupiter at a distance of 1,170,000 miles (1,883,000 kilometers).

With a good camera lens, a telescope, or a pair of good binoculars its possible to view these moons if you know where and when to look for them. To help identify the exact locations of the Galilean Moons, this blogger uses the outstanding astronomy website skyandtelescope.org as a reference source. I highly recommend this site to other amateur stargazers.

Night Sky Photography -- 07-19-2022 -- The Last Quarter Moon, Mars, Jupiter & Moons

Good morning fellow stargazers!

Very early this morning -- or late last night depending on your perspective -- at about 3:30 AM EST, we were blessed with mercifully clear skies between the summer thunderstorms we've been getting here in South Carolina all July.

Granted these off-and-on rain showers are good for the plants, and certainly are a welcome relief from the hot summer we've been having this year (at least until the sun comes out after and it turns very muggy!), but they do make stargazing and planet watching a major pain.

Thankfully, the early morning sky was very clear and I was about to capture some really great shots of two of our planetary neighbors: Mars and Jupiter with our lovely Luna in her Last Quarter phase.

In one of the photos I was about to capture both planets and our moon along with the four brightest Galilean Moons just barely visible with Jupiter. Both the moon and Mars are visible between the gap in the trees.

As you can see in the close-up of Jupiter, the four Galilean Moon: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, appear as small bright dots, or smudges.

Jupiter actually has a whopping 80 known moons and satellites in its orbit, though the four Galilean moons are by far the largest and most visible with a good camera lens, telescope, or pair of binoculars.

Io, the third largest of the four moons discovered by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610, is the closest moon to Jupiter, while Europa -- which is just barely visible and almost blocked from view in transition to Jupiter --  is both the smallest of these four moons and the sixth-closest to the gas giant planet.

Ganymede, the seventh-closest moon to Jupiter, is the largest and most massive of our Solar System's moons -- the ninth-largest object in the Solar System including our Sun. Callisto, the farthest of the four large moons, is the second-largest moon of Jupiter and the third-largest moon in the Solar System.

My final two shots show our own lovely moon at the end of her Last Quarter phase -- the Last Quarter Moon for July 2022 was actually at its peak in the afternoon of the previous day, and Luna is actually beginning to wane as it moves closer to the meet the sunrise in the eastern sky.

You can see the moon and Mars through the branches of the trees. The Red Planet lives up to its nickname as the rust-covered planet appears to be a bright orange-red in the early morning sky. Beautiful sight to behold if you know where to look.

Well I hope that y'all enjoyed my planetary photographs and presentation. Let me know what you think in the comments below and, as always, have a lovely Dixie Day from South Carolina and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear!

Night Sky Photography -- 06-20-2022 -- Parade Of Planets & Last Quarter Moon

Greetings, Salutations, and Happy Summer Solstice, Y'all!

Early this morning I woke up in time to capture some really good shots of the Last Quarter Moon along with four of our planetary neighbors in the early morning sky.

Throughout this month its possible to see all five of the traditional "wandering stars" (planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) in the early morning sky about an hour before sunrise in a line across the eastern sky.

If you're fortunately enough to live someplace with little obstruction on the horizon, it might be possible to see all five planets in a line across the sky.

Unfortunately for me, little Mercury currently lies too close to the horizon behind the trees for me to get a clear shot at the moment, though as it slowly begins to rise in the eastern sky ahead of the sunrise, I should be able to get a better chance before the end of this month.

Today though, I was able to capture four of the planets -- although they were too far apart for me to photograph into one frame, I was able to get some really good shots.

The first photo shows Mars, Jupiter, Luna, and Saturn in more or less a straight line across the southeastern sky overhead. The second is bright Venus a little further from Mars towards the horizon.

 

My third photograph is a close-up of the Last Quarter Moon that highlights most of the visible features of the "Man on the Moon" with the Earth's shadow cutting across half of the lunar surface.

And speaking of moons, my final photo is a close-up shot of the large gas giant planet, Jupiter, with its four Galilean moons (Io, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede) visible -- and in almost a straight line.

Well I hope that y'all enjoyed my photos and welcome summer 2022!

Night Sky Photography -- 12-21-2020 -- The Great "Christmas Star" Conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn!

Good Evening and Happy Holidays, Y'all!

Today, December 21st, marks the winter solstice for 2020. The winter solstice marks both the shortest day of the year, as well as the longest night of the year -- the astrological tipping point of the Earth's axis where daylight once again starts gaining ground on darkness in the Northern Hemisphere. 

This detail is quite symbolic with my night sky planetary photography offering for y'all this evening. A sight that has not been witnessed here on Earth since the European Middle Ages, and is believed to have been a scene witnessed earlier to one of the greatest moments in human history -- the birth of Jesus Christ.

This evening, my corner of South Carolina was truly blessed with clear skies for a perfect view of the Great "Christmas Star" Conjunction of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. My first photo was taken 45 to 50 minutes after sunset.

As y'all can see Jupiter and Saturn are so close together they almost appear to be a single bright star to the naked eye. With my camera's lens, however, you can clearly see Jupiter and Saturn together at less than 0.1 degree apart side by side -- which about the thickness of a dime held at arm's length, according to NASA -- making them appear to be a double planet. 

The word conjunction is used by astronomers to describe meetings of planets and other objects on our sky’s dome. The term great conjunction is used to describe the meeting between the two largest heavenly bodies in our solar system, which happen about every 20 years, or so, when the two outer planets appear close in our night sky from Earth. The last of these took place in the year 2000.

Though the two planets appear spectacularly close together from our perspective here on Earth right now, Jupiter and Saturn are actually a whopping 456 million miles apart from one another, even at this close approach in their planetary orbits. Saturn is nearly twice as far away from us as Jupiter and appears much smaller, in spite of its famous rings. Saturn takes nearly 30 years to go around the sun, while Jupiter takes nearly 12 years. Thus, every 20 years, Jupiter catches up to Saturn as viewed from Earth.

However, what makes the 2020 great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn so special is the fact that its the closest one since Wednesday, July 16, 1623 when they were only 5 arc minutes apart. This took place roughly 13 years after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei invented the first telescope!

Before this an even closer recorded Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 4, 1226 during the Middle Ages. Tonight's conjunction is the closest meeting of the two planets in Earth's sky dome since that time, with the next really close great conjunction not happening again until the two gas giants stage another exceptionally close show just 60 years from now, in March 2080.  

 

What makes this astronomical event so important is the speculation by some scientists that it was a great conjunction of the two giant planets and the bright star Regulus which occurred in the year 2 BC -- the same year as the estimated birth of this historic Jesus Christ in Bethlehem recorded in the book of Matthew in the Bible.

This great conjunction of the two planets and Regulus are believed to be the possible event that formed the Star of Bethlehem (or Christmas Star) that the Three Wise Men (Magi) in the biblical Nativity story were thought to have seen that inspired them to travel to Judea (modern-day Israel) to find the newborn Jesus.

This is, of course, one of several probable theories regarding the Star of Bethlehem. All the same, considering this year's close great conjunction corresponding with the winter solstice and the beginning of return of longer days, or "light conquering the darkness" if you will, and the symbolism could not be any closer from an astrological and theological point of view.

That's pretty awesome, huh?

My next photo is a close-up of the great conjunction and shows something really cool -- an elongated Saturn from its famous rings, and the four Jovian, or Galilean Moons: Io, Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto.

In 1610, 14 years before the great conjunction of 1623, Italian astronomer Galileo pointed his newly improved telescope to the night sky, discovering the four largest moons of Jupiter. In that same year, Galileo also discovered a strange oval surrounding Saturn, which later observations determined to be its rings. 

Note the oval shape of Saturn in my photo, taken from my trusty Sony DSC-H300 digital camera with 35X Optical Zoom lens at full magnification. It and the large Jovian Moons all appear in my photo probably about the way Galileo first witnessed them when he made his discoveries.

Finally, my last photo of the evening is a beautiful close up of the last First Quarter Moon of the year 2020 during the solstice.

Well folks, I certainly hope y'all enjoyed me photos of this once-in-a-lifetime event as much as I enjoy bringing them to all of y'all. Truly a beautiful astronomical event and one for the ages. Please let me know what you think in the comments section below, and as always have a good evening....and Merry Christmas to y'all! 

Night Sky Photography -- 07-06-2020 -- Full Moon, Jupiter & Saturn In Triangle

Good evening, fellow stargazers!

Last night I was able to capture our beautiful full moon in the southern sky in a celestial triangle with the two largest planets on our solar system: Jupiter and Saturn. 

As you can see Luna appears to be topped by the two planets. Bright Jupiter can be seen on the right, while Saturn appears a bit smaller and about one-third dimmer on the left. 

A closeup shot of Jupiter I took once again reveals all four of the famous Galilean satellites that famed Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered using his first crude telescope 410 years ago. Io and Ganymede appear on one side of Jupiter, while Europa and Callisto (more widely separated) can be seen on the other. They are the four largest of Jupiter's 79 known moons.

The four Galilean (Jovian) Moons: (from top to bottom)
Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto -- compared by size next to
the Great Red Spot of Jupiter.

Unfortunately, even at maximum magnification, my camera can't pick up the rings, but if you are checking out Saturn, any telescope magnifying more than 25-power should provide you with a view of its famous ring system, now tilted nearly 22 degrees toward Earth. 

Anyone wanting to see the two large planets will still be able to for some time as they will remain close to each other in the late evening sky for much of the rest of the year. Jupiter and Saturn will continue to get brighter heading into the middle of the month with the two planets making their closest approach (opposition) to the Earth in mid-July -- Jupiter on the evening of Monday, July 13th and Saturn on Monday, July 20th. The moon will meet them again in the evening sky on Saturday, August 1st. 

My final shot is a close up of the full moon.

  

Luna actually became a full moon in the early morning hours of July 5th. In North America the July full moon is called the Buck Moon because this is the time of year that male deer begin to grow velvety antlers. Farmers call the July full moon a Hay Moon, or Thunder Moon because farmers are working to put hay in their barns and trying to avoid the frequent summer thunder showers.

Well folks, I hope y'all have a wonderful evening and remember to keep your eyes to the night skies! 

Night Sky Photography -- 09-02-2018 -- Jupiter & Moons, Mars & Venus

Good evening to all my fellow stargazers!

This evening about one hour after sunset at dusk two beautiful wanderers and two bright stars appeared out of the western sky. Venus and Spica, the brightest star in the Constellation Virgo closer to the western horizon, with Jupiter and Zubenelgenubi, the main star of the constellation Libra, following them higher in the western sky.  

Jupiter and Venus appeared first. I took a good closeup of Jupiter and once again captured three of the four Jovian Moons: Io, Ganymede and Europa. Soon the two bright stars appeared and I captured these images of Jupiter and Venus with their new evening companions.

One final shot I took was a beautiful shot of Mars rising in the eastern sky. Because its orbit is still closer to Earth for the next couple of months, Mars still appears larger in the sky and continues to shine brightly as the summer winds down towards autumn.

I hope y'all enjoyed these photos. Have a wonderful evening and keep looking to the night skies, y'all!