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 -- 09-13-2025 -- The Moon With Uranus & The Pleiades In Late Evening Sky

Greetings & Salutations, fellow amateur stargazers!

I stayed awake pretty late yesterday evening to capture some really good photos of the Moon with the Pleiades Star Cluster (also known as the "Seven Sisters") and the very faint distant planet, Uranus, in a near triangle in the eastern sky just above the treetops.

Uranus, the 7th planet in our Solar System, is currently 1.78 billion miles (or 2.86 billion kilometers) from Earth and you really have to know where to look to spot it. Even then it only appears faintly through a good pair of binoculars, or a telescope. I was fortunate enough to catch Uranus in the close-up photo of the three heavenly bodies. In my other photos I marked the approximate place Uranus sits.

In my second photo is a close-up shot of Luna with the Pleiades where I was able to capture all of the major stars of the Seven Sisters cluster and many of their companion stars. This one came out beautifully with the Pleiades just past the bright glare of the Moon.

In my wider shots, I captured most of the nearby major stars of the Constellations: Taurus The Bull, Auriga The Charioteer, and Perseus The Hero. I caught the more open Hyades Star Cluster (the "head" of Taurus) just above the trees -- y'all can see the reddish tint of the red giant star, Aldebaran.

I labeled all the major stars of each constellation, as well as outlined the constellations themselves to put them in relation to the current positions of the Moon and Uranus in the night sky.

If any of y'all want to try and locate Uranus for yourselves, she will be close to the Pleiades for a good while since her orbit around the Sun is slow -- it actually takes about 84 Earth years for Uranus to complete a single orbit around the Sun!

Look for Uranus about one degree (or the length of the tip of your pinky finger on your outstretched arm)  southeast of the Pleiades as they rise in the eastern sky.

Another good opportunity to see all three of these beautiful night sky features together again will come next month on the morning of Friday, October 10th, when Luna will actually occult -- or cross in front of -- the Pleiades. Uranus will still be relatively close and should appear just outside of the Moon's glare.

I hope y'all enjoyed this post and as always keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all.

Night Sky Photography -- 09-08-2025 -- Full Corn Moon & Saturn

Greetings fellow stargazers!

Late last night I captured these wonderful shots of the planet Saturn with the September full moon -- also known as the Full Corn Moon here in North America.

The Full Corn Moon is the last full moon of summer and this year the September full moon falls before the fall equinox. When the full moon arrives in September after first day of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, that full moon is the Full Harvest Moon. This year's Harvest Moon will happen in October.

The planet Neptune, the 8th planet in our Solar System, presently lies near Saturn in the night sky -- though it is much too distant for the naked eye to see without a very good telescope and an idea of where it might be.

I labeled the approximate location of Neptune in its relation between the Full Corn Moon and Saturn in the evening sky. At present, the large blue gas giant planet, Neptune, sits about 2.78 billion miles (or 4.475 billion kilometers) from Earth; with the much larger giant planet, Saturn, at about 881 million miles (or 1.42 billion kilometers) from Earth in its present orbit around the Sun.

Once again I hope y'all enjoyed my late-night photographs. I hope to have more soon, so stay tuned and keep watching the night skies, y'all!

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 -- 07-20-2025 -- Luna Occultation Of The Pleiades Star Cluster

Early this morning, about an hour before sunrise here in South Carolina, I set up my camera and tripod and captured these outstanding shots of the Waning Crescent Moon with Venus rising in the eastern sky just 45 minutes ahead of the Sun.

The first photo is a really beautiful shot of Luna overhead with bright, beautiful Venus between the branches of the trees. Venus is currently inside the Constellation Taurus The Bull.

The planet Uranus is also currently close to Luna in the moon's orbit as seen from here on the Earth. Uranus is too far away to be visible in the shot -- about 1.86 billion miles (or 3 billion kilometers, or 19 astronomical units (AU) away -- but I labeled the current location of the 7th planet of our Solar System where it could be seen with a good telescope.

When I downloaded the photos to edit and label them, I noticed that I'd also captured the bright star Aldebaran -- the Eye of the Bull -- clearly visible through the leaves of the trees. In my second photo I captured a close-up of Venus and saw that Aldebaran was visible in that one as well.

The main event, the reason that I was up so early, was to capture the moon as it passed in front of the Pleiades Star Cluster (or "Seven Sisters") in its orbit around the Earth. I perfectly captured the moment when Luna was almost dead center in its occulation with the Seven Sisters catching all of the major stars of the cluster, except for Maia which is hidden by the moon. 

Finally, this morning at around 10 a.m. EDT Luna reached perigee -- the moon's closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit -- at approximately 228,690 miles (or 368,041 km) away.

Tomorrow at about the same time, Luna will move lower towards the east and the sunrise between Venus and Aldebaran in the morning sky. If clear skies permit I will try and capture a good photo of that celestial event as well. Till then keep your eyes to the skies, 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!

Night Sky Photography -- 01-13-2024 -- The Full Wolf Moon Occults Bright Mars

Greetings and Salutations, fellow stargazers!

Tonight, your favorite blogger has a very special night sky offering for y'all to enjoy -- photos I took over a four-hour period showing the first full moon of the year occulting -- or passing in front of -- the bright planet Mars just days before its two-year close opposition to Earth!

The January full moon is traditionally known here in North America as the Full Wolf Moon. Luna officially achieved her full moon status this afternoon at about 5:30 p.m. EST here on the east coast of the United States.

Mars, like Luna, is also in opposition between the Earth and the Sun -- the Red Planet will officially reach opposition on the evening of Wednesday, January 15th when it will be the largest and brightest it will appear in the night sky for the next two years.

Mars will continue to remain in the vicinity of the Constellation Gemini The Twins until mid-April of this year and will continue to remain a bright orange-yellow "wandering star" for several months before its wider orbit will take our closest planetary neighbor further away from our Earth and it begins to dim again till the next opposition in February of 2027.

The brilliance of Luna during her full moon phase compared to Mars at its brightest makes witnessing this occultation easy enough in the hours before and after the event. Since the Full Wolf Moon will outshine our little red neighbor by around 40 thousand times, you would need a good telescope, or binocular lenses to see it in the moon's brilliant glare in the minutes before and after occultation.

I set up my camera and tripod in my backyard on this cold January evening and trained my sights on the heavenly spectacle. God granted beautifully clear skies (aside from one instance of clouds that wasn't really much of an obstacle) and all I had to do was wait.

The first shots were taken at 7:00 p.m. EST -- about 2 hours before the occultation -- with a wide shot showing how the Full Wolf Moon and Mars appeared in the eastern sky with the twin stars Castor and Pollux nearby. Then I took a close-up shot along with a filtered show of the first full moon of the year 2025.

An hour later -- about 70 minutes before the occultation -- I took photos showing the progress of the Full Wolf Moon as it slowly moved towards the east and Mars in its orbit.

In my part of South Carolina and the United States, the occultation of Mars by the Full Wolf Moon began at approximately 9:10 p.m. EST and lasted until 10:20 p.m. EST seventy minutes later. These are the photos I took of Mars disappearing and then reappearing behind Luna in the night sky.

Well my friends, once again I hope y'all enjoyed my photographs of this rare night sky event as much as I enjoyed taking them and posting them here for everyone.

I look forward to bringing y'all more night sky photography in the future, but until then keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all.

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.