Night Sky Photography -- 06-10-2026 -- Venus & Jupiter Conjunction After Sunset

 

Good evening, fellow amateur stargazers!

This evening I captured a great shot of the planets Jupiter and Venus together in conjunction about 70 minutes after sunset in the western sky above the trees.

The two planets had actually been much closer together the previous evening, however cloud cover prevented me from getting any photos unfortunately. Still the two planets were still close together and will remain so for the rest of this week, so spotting them with the naked eye won't be too difficult on a clear evening.

Venus is the larger and brightest object in the early evening sky at the current distance of about 111 million miles (or 178 million kilometers) away from Earth. Jupiter, while much larger, is much farther away at the current distance of about 563 million miles (or 906 million kilometers) from Earth.

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 -- 01-20-2026 -- Jupiter Inside The Winter Circle

Late last night -- or early this morning, depending on how y'all look at it -- at about 90 minutes after midnight I captured a lovely shot of Jupiter inside the Winter Circle (also known as the Winter Hexagon) in the southwestern night sky.

Finding Jupiter for stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere will be easy this year. The 5th and largest planet in our Solar System will remain inside the Winter Circle in our night sky for the rest of winter 2026 in North America as its orbit will take it further inside the circle and will remain a part of the Constellation Gemini the Twins with the bright stars Castor and Pollux nearby.

Night Sky Photography -- 01-01-2026 -- The Full Wolf Moon & Jupiter

 

Good evening fellow stargazers!

The first Full Moon of the year 2026 -- the Full Wolf Moon here in North America -- is also the first supermoon of the year. Our beautiful Luna was at her perigee (the Moon's closest point to Earth in its orbit)  at 225,130 miles (362,312 kilometers) away, making it appear significantly larger and brighter than usual.

In the evening sky it rose in the east along with Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System. Jupiter is also really close to Earth in its orbit around the Sun. The large planet will reach its closest point for the year on Friday, January 9th, when it reaches opposition (when Earth passes between Jupiter and the Sun) will be about 393 million miles (633 million km) away, making it exceptionally bright and visible pretty much all month long. 

Jupiter is very close in the night sky to the twin stars Pollux and Castor in the Constellation Gemini the Twins and will continue to be throughout the month of January.

The following are the photos I took on the evening of January 3rd of the meeting between all of these heavenly bodies....including capturing three of Jupiter's moons: Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede just visible in the photographs. These include closeups of the Full Wolf Supermoon, and a lovely shot through the trees with my U.S. Flag in the foreground.

Night Sky Photography -- 01-01-2026 -- Bright Winter Stars & First Moonrise Of The New Year!

Greetings & Happy New Year 2026 Y'all!

Like many folks across this wonderful world of ours, I stayed up to celebrate the New Year by counting down to midnight (12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, or EST) here in my home state of South Carolina on the United States eastern coast in North America.

After watching my neighborhood turn into a fireworks war zone for about half an hour (and in truth they continued to pop off sporadically until well after 1 a.m.) my eyes turned to the beautifully clear night sky dome overhead to see the beautiful bright stars of the Hyades Star Cluster which makes up the "horns" of the Constellation Taurus The Bull, the beautiful stars of the Constellation Orion The Hunter, and the smaller Winter Triangle asterisms -- along with a beautiful Waxing Full Moon and the planet Jupiter overhead.

I captured a good shot of all these from my front yard to share with y'all.

This is the first of what I hope will be many more night sky photographs I'll be presenting to y'all this year....God and clear skies permitting, of course.

Happy New Year!

Night Sky Photography -- 11-10-2025 -- The Moon & Jupiter Through The Clouds

Good evening fellow stargazers!

Late on Sunday evening (November 9th), I was able to capture some beautiful shots of the Waning Gibbous Moon with the giant planet, Jupiter, in the eastern sky through the gathering clouds. In the close-up shot of Jupiter, I was able to capture all four of the Galilean Moon: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. 

Jupiter appears as a very bright blue-white star in the night sky, although at present its only about 437.25 million miles from our Earth. Its also the only other planet in our solar system where you can see its moons -- with the aid of a telescope, or really good pair of binoculars. 

Night Sky Photography -- 10-16-2025 -- Jupiter With The Twins

Late this evening I captured this great shot of the giant planet Jupiter rising in the eastern sky with the largest stars of the Constellation Gemini stars Castor and Pollux, with all the major stars of the nearby Constellations Orion The Hunter and Taurus The Bull nearby. The planet Jupiter, the fifth planet of our Solar System, will remain close to the bright star Pollux for the remaining months of 2025 so you won't have trouble locating it.

A very important fact for all you amateur stargazers. In the early morning hours of Tuesday, October 21st, the Orionids Meteor Shower will be at its peak and anywhere between 10 to 30 meteors can be spotted an hour. You can best spot them in the space between the Constellation Orion near Betelgeuse and the Constellation Gemini.

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 -- 02-10-2025 -- Mars & Jupiter Seen Through The Clouds

Good evening, fellow stargazers!

Well my friends, due to cloudy and rainy conditions forecasted for this week I am uncertain if I will be able to capture any photos of the second Full Moon of the year (the Full Snow Moon) -- which falls on Wednesday, February 12th -- which will be lined up with the Constellation Leo The Lion and its brightest star Regulus closest to Luna.

Still, I went outside early last evening and could barely see the Waxing Gibbous Moon's silhouette and Luna's glorious shine through the breaks in the clouds. The early buds on the tree limbs overhead show that (six more weeks of winter, or not) spring was ready to arrive here in the South Carolina Piedmont. I did however notice that those clouds were moving fast and between them I got glimpses of the planets Mars and Jupiter near the Moon. 

I quickly retrieved my camera and set up my tripod and captured two absolutely gorgeous shots of both "wandering stars" through the clouds.

The first photo shows the two planets glowing brightly with Luna's glow through the tree and clouds nearby -- Mars its small dull orange-red and Jupiter a bright white. In the second photo I captured some of the brightest nearby stars through the cloud cover overhead: the twins Castor and Pollux near Mars, large red Aldebaran near Jupiter, along with Capella, Elnath, and Procyon nearby.

I hope y'all enjoyed my photographic offerings for the evening. I hope to have some more night sky photos soon. I will still hope for clear skies to capture the moment, but if I'm unable be sure to check the skies where y'all live and look for Regulus next to the Full Snow Moon on Wednesday.

Night Sky Photography -- 01-30-2025 -- Mars & Jupiter With The Winter Circle Constellations

Good evening fellow stargazers!

As I close out the month of January 2025, I want to begin my wishing my readers a Happy Lunar New Year -- or the Year of the Wood Snake to this blog's fans across the Pacific.

Lunar New Year begin officially in 2025 on the evening of Wednesday, January 29th and into the morning hours of Thursday, January 30th here in North America with a moonless night time, or New Moon Phase.

It is on this moonless night that I was able to capture a wonderful photo of the planets Mars and Jupiter overhead at midnight. Both planets are quite bright compared to the larger but more distant giant stars nearest to them. Beautiful red Mars is of course still quite close to Earth in its orbit; while Jupiter, the largest planet on our Solar System, is easily visible overhead close to the reddish star, Aldebaran, in the Constellation Taurus the Bull.

Not only was the sky dome overhead clear of Lunar moonlight, but the cloudless sky made it easy for me to capture a really clear image of both planets and all the major stars that form the Winter Circle (or Winter Hexagon) asterism, and the six constellations that make them up.

The first is the original photo showing the position of the planets Mars and Jupiter in the sky overhead. A nearby power line pole was used in the foreground to provide an idea what the sky looked like standing and looking up. 

The other two shots are the same photo, but with the first outlining the positions of the constellations: Gemini, Canis Minor, Canis Major, Orion, Taurus, and Auriga overhead; and the final shot showing the Winter Circle and Winter Triangle asterisms as they appear. Jupiter is just outside of the Winter Circle in the vicinity of Taurus The Bull, while Mars is inside the Winter Circle in the Constellation Gemini.

The month of February 2025 will also be bringing some more opportunities for astronomical photography, God willing good weather and clear skies, of course. Until then have a wonderful Dixie evening and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, fellow stargazers!

Planerary Photography -- 01-01-2025 -- Jupiter In Taurus With The Hunter and Dogs

Happy New Year 2025, Y'all!

I mean to actually post these the other day, however I've been feeling very under the weather with a severe cold and flu, so I apologize for the delay in posting as I'm still in recovery.

At exactly midnight here on the East Coast of the United States on Wednesday, January 1st -- the official star of New Year's Day in my little corner of Dixie -- I set up my camera and tripod and fixed it overhead into the wonderfully clear sky to capture this outstanding photo of the largest planet in our Solar System, Jupiter, inside the Constellation Taurus The Bull. I was also able to capture the brightest stars of the nearby constellations Orion The Hunter, Canis Major The Greater Dog, and Canis Minor The Lesser Dog.

I duplicated the photo so that I could outline the positions of the constellations, as well as the Winter Circle asterism in the shot.

Look for bright Jupiter overhead and you will easily be able to find the Constellation Taurus since, due to its slow orbit around the Sun, Jupiter is going to remain inside the large V of Taurus well into early May as seen here in North America when the winter constellation disappears from view to give way to the summer stars thanks to the Earth's rotation.

That's all for now, but I plan to have more night sky photography for y'all soon, good weather and clear skies permitting.

Night Sky Photography -- 11-19-2024 -- Luna, Jupiter, Mars & Stars

I captured this outstanding photo last night about forty minutes after midnight of our beautiful Waning Gibbous Moon as she appeared just between the planets Jupiter and Mars high in the eastern sky. In addition I also captured many of the nearby brightest stars of the constellations Gemini, Canis Minor, Taurus and Orion.

Luna will pass by the bright star, Pollux, late on Tuesday, November 19th and Mars on the the night of Wednesday, November 20th. On both nights, the moon will appear only a degree, or so, apart from both heavenly bodies.

Jupiter, with its much slower orbit, will remain close to the Constellation Taurus for awhile; but Mars will soon begin to appear brighter as it moves ever closer to its opposition to the Earth in its orbit.

Night Sky Photography -- 11-15-2024 -- The Super Full Beaver Moon & The Pleiades

Good evening, fellow Stargazers!

In the Northern Hemisphere the full moon is called the Beaver Moon and its the last full moon of the autumn season before the winter solstice.

This year's Full Beaver Moon is the fourth and last supermoon of 2024 at a distance of about 225,000 miles (or 361,867 km) from the Earth.

As an extra special bonus this year, the Super Full Beaver Moon aligns with the Pleiades Star Cluster with the two appearing about just over half-a-degree apart in the evening sky as seen from the surface of the Earth. The Pleiades are actually about 444.2 light-years (or 136.2 parsecs) distance from our Solar System.

The following are the photos I took of the Super Full Beaver Moon with the nearby Pleiades Star Cluster.

The first photo being a close-up shot of the our lovely Luna with every dark "sea" and large surface feature visible.

The second is a wider unfiltered view of the full moon with the nearby Pleiades showing just outside of Luna's glare.

The final show showing the Super Full Beaver Moon and Pleiades with several nearby bright stars including the red-giant star, Aldebaran, in the Constellation Taurus and the large bright star, Capella, in the Constellation Auriga. Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System, can be seen rising just below between the tops of the trees.

I hope y'all enjoyed my photos and I hope to have some more soon. Till next time have a good evening and be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear.

Night Sky Photography -- 10-13-2024 -- Jupiter & Mars With Early Morning Winter Stars

Salutations once again, fellow stargazers!

Now that autumn here in North America is here, the morning skies overhead an hour before sunrise will begin to feature the stars and constellations of the Winter Circle, most of which will begin rising after about an hour before midnight the evening before.

Both the planets Mars and Jupiter can now be seen inside the Winter Circle with the Red Planet near the Constellation Gemini the Twins and Jupiter inside the Constellation Taurus the Bull.

Early this morning, I stepped outside and set up my tripod in the front yard, focusing my camera up at the two planets, as well as the brightest points of light near them, and took several very clear photographs. Because of the wonderfully clear morning sky overhead, I managed to capture not only our nearest planetary neighbors, but all the beautiful stars of four of the Winter Circle constellations -- as well as Sirius, the brightest star that can be seen from Earth.

In the first photo, I labeled both Mars and Jupiter, as well as all the major stars of the constellations around them and in the second I outlined the constellations themselves, including the location of the Winter Triangle asterism.

Looking up at those beautiful stars and planets in a clear autumn sky, its almost hard to imagine just how far away most of them are.

The closest of them, Mars, is actually over a hundred million miles from Earth at present and getting slightly closer as the planet moves in its orbit towards its opposition to Earth in January of 2025, and will appear to be getting even bigger in the early morning sky over the next couple of months. Even at its closest approach, Mars will only be about 60 million miles from Earth since this opposition puts the small planet will be near its aphelion, or the point farther away from the Sun in its orbit.

In my final photo of the post, I labeled not only the planets and the major stars and the location of the Orion Nebula, but I also added the exact distance from Earth to put into perspective just how massive our nearest galactic neighbors are. Also keep in mind most of those points of light that we see comes from light that took decades in most cases to reach our curious eyes.

With that in mind, I bid all of y'all a wonderful day. More evening photography will be coming soon, until then keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear.

Night Sky Photography -- 08-14/15-2024 -- Jupiter & Mars Conjunction With Morning Constellations!

The conjunction of Jupiter and Mars as seen from my back yard
just above the treetops about 85 minutes before sunrise.
You can also see the major morning stars of several constellations.

 

Since the start of August 2024, both Jupiter and Mars can be seen shining brightly in the eastern morning sky, moving ever closer to each other in their respective orbits around the Sun. I've been following its progress when clear skies permitted.

On the morning of Wednesday, August 14th, the two planets finally reached conjunction, appearing very close to each other -- less than a full moon’s width apart on the morning sky. Mars passed just over the top of Jupiter and will continue to appear to be close to the gas giant planet for at least one more early morning on Thursday, August 15th before the two planets move farther away from each other.

The following are the photos I took early this morning of the conjunction.

In my cover photo for this post above taken about 85 minutes before sunrise, y'all can see the two planets together in the early morning sky as I saw them from the vantage point in my back yard seeing them rising just above the tops of the tree line; along with some of the brightest stars of the morning constellations.

Both Jupiter and Mars can be see together just inside the Constellation Taurus The Bull near the bright red-giant star, Aldebaran -- the Eye of the Bull.

In my next photo, I labeled the two planets positions, along with all the nearby bright stars and the Hyades and Pleiades Star Clusters, and Orion's Belt asterism. I also included the approximate location of the distant planet Uranus near the Pleiades. This was taken about 75 minutes before sunrise.

In addition to the bright planets in close conjunction, y'all can see nearly all the major stars of the Constellations Orion, Taurus, Auriga, and Gemini. I outlined the constellations in their exact locations in my next photo. Both Jupiter and Mars are virtually in the center of the four visible constellations inside of Taurus.

My final photo for the morning of the 14th is a really good close-up of the conjunction of Jupiter and Mars, along with two of Jupiter's largest moons: Europa and Callisto, both visible in the shot. Europa is the smallest of the four Galilean Moons, and Callisto is the second largest of Jupiter's moon -- as well as the third-largest moon in our Solar System after Ganymede and Titan (Saturn's largest moon).

The next morning on Thursday, August 15th, I took two more photos of the conjunction and the morning stars, this time capturing both of the Gemini Twin stars just above the trees. Y'all can see now that Mars has begun moving past Jupiter and closer towards the east and sunrise. The close up shot of the plants now shows all four of the Galilean Moons now visible -- Io is just barely visible coming from just behind the gas giant planet.

While Mars appears close to the giant planet from our vantage point here on Earth, in reality the two planets are separated by a mean distance of around 342 million miles (or, about 550 million kilometers, or around 3.7 AUs give or take). Still, it makes a very impressive sight in the morning sky.

Well, once again I hope y'all enjoyed my photos of the conjunction. To all my fellow amateur stargazers out there: be sure to keep your eyes to the evening skies, y'all hear.

Night Sky Photography -- 08-01-2024 -- Planets & Morning Constellations Rising

Good morning, y'all!

Well folks, very early this morning -- at about 90 minutes before sunrise -- I went out into my backyard to capture a pair of really outstanding shots of the planets Jupiter, Mars, & Uranus as they appeared in the sky just above the trees.

In the first photo, I labeled the planets, as well as the brightest stars of the Constellations Taurus The Bull and Auriga The Charioteer, with the Waning Crescent Moon lower on the horizon. In the second photo, I outlined both constellations and all of the stars that made up both. They came out really clear in the shots. In addition to the stars of the Hyades Star Cluster, which makes up the head of Taurus The Bull, I captured the stars of the Pleiades Star Cluster just above it and marked the position of the planet Uranus.

Jupiter and Mars are both easy to spot as the two planets still remain close to the bright red giant star, Aldebaran and appear as a triangle of "stars" inside the Constellation Taurus. Both planets are moving ever closer to a conjunction on the mornings of Wednesday, August 14th and Thursday, August 15th later this month.

Uranus is slightly harder to spot unless you know precisely where to look. At the present time the position of the distant 7th planet of our Solar System can be found about two degrees, or so, to the left of the Pleiades Star Cluster. I marked the location in both photos since. If you have a good telescope, or a really good pair of binoculars, y'all should have no trouble spotting the faint planet about an hour before sunrise.

The brightest star of the Constellation Auriga is Capella, the sixth-brightest star in the night sky, and the third-brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere after Arcturus and Vega.

Although it appears to be a single star to the naked eye, Capella is actually a quadruple star system -- two binary pairs, made up of two bright-yellow giant stars, (Capella Aa and Capella Ab) both of which are around 2.5 times larger than our own Sun, and two smaller and relatively cool red dwarf stars (Capella H and Capella L) which are around 10,000 astronomical units (AU) from the other pair. The system is relatively close to our Solar System, estimated to be about 42.9 light-years (or 13.2 parsecs) from the Sun.

Both the Constellations Auriga and Taurus are connected by the bright star, Elnath, which also happens to be the second-brightest star in both constellations. Elnath is a giant star about 134 light-years (or 41 parsecs) from the Sun. 

Well I hope y'all enjoyed my photos. I hope to have more soon, good weather permitting. Have a wonderful Dixie day, and be sure to keep looking at the skies, y'all.

Night Sky Photography -- 07-15-2024 -- Mars & Uranus Conjunction Before Sunrise!

Greetings fellow stargazers!

On the morning of Monday, July 15, 2024, your favorite blogger had to wake up early -- about 90 minutes before sunrise to be exact -- to drive out into the country a little and find a nice spot to capture the conjunction of the planets Mars and Uranus. I was also able to capture some wonderful shots of the planet Jupiter and the bright red giant star, Aldebaran, in the Constellation Taurus the Bull.

After setting up my tripod, I captured this first photo over the tree line facing south-southeast. I decided not to label this one so you can get an idea of how I saw it for myself.

You can see what appears to be two red points and a large bright point set in a oblong triangle in the nautical twilight as they appeared to the naked eye. The large bright spot is Jupiter, while the smaller red spots are Aldebaran positioned to the right of Jupiter and the planet Mars in the upper corner.

Using the lens as a filter to capture more points of light not quite visible to the naked eye, I captured nearly all the stars of the Hyades Star Cluster -- which make up the "face" of the Constellation Taurus the Bull -- and the nearby Pleiades Star Cluster between Mars and the current position of Uranus in the night sky as seen from the Earth's surface. The wider shot also captured the nearby stars Elnath and Capella closer to the east and coming sunrise. The close up shot shows both the Hyades and Pleiades clusters more clearly.

Mars is easy to spot due to its bright red-orange hue, though distant Uranus is impossible to see with the naked eye and requires a really good lens to spot. Thankfully I have a good 35X Sony Optical Zoom lens on my camera and, at maximum magnification, was successfully able to capture a really good close-up of the two planets together at just half-a-degree apart.

Although they appear to be "meeting" in the early morning sky from out vantage point here on the surface of the Earth; the two worlds are actually quite a distance apart.

The large ice giant planet Uranus, the 7th planetary body in our Solar System, is roughly about 1.86 billion miles (just over 3 billion kilometers, or 20.16 AUs) from our Earth at the moment, while Mars, the 4th planet and our nearest planetary neighbor, is about 155 million miles (around 250 million kilometers, or 1.67 AUs) from Earth.

Finally, I took a couple of good shots of Jupiter, now currently a part of the Constellation Taurus for at least the next month in the early mornings. The first show a close-up of Jupiter with bright red Aldebaran, the "Eye of the Bull" close by. The final show captures all the stars of the Hyades Cluster, which I highlight outlining the head of the Constellation Taurus.

The large gas giant planet, Jupiter, the 5th planet in the solar system, is currently about 532 million miles (857 million kilometers, or 5.7 AUs) from the Earth. Aldebaran is much father away at a distance of approximately 65 light-years from our Sun and is the 14th brightest star in the night sky as seen from Earth.

Later this month, on Tuesday, July 30th, the crescent moon will cross between Mars and Jupiter in the early morning sky. Over the next month both planets will continue to move closer to each other towards their own conjunction in the morning sky on Monday, August 12, 2024....which I hope to be able to photograph, God and good clear skies willing.

Well folks, I hope that y'all enjoyed my photos and to all my fellow amateur sky watchers be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear.