Astronomy

Observing Log for

Session Details


Tillicoultry

56.157, -3.749

50m

Notes

Cloudy spells and fairly mild.

Observations

Jupiter and Saturn Conjunction

I started with the 30mm eyepiece but quickly realised the planets were much closer together than I had anticipated. Even at 25mm they were still fairly lost in the field of view. It was only at 10mm that they filled the field of view with faint detail seen on both Jupiter and Saturn despite the brightness of the twilight sky. It was an incredible sight to see them both together in the field of view, with three of the Jovian moons strung out next to the planet.

I attempted to capture some photos via eyepiece projection and my Pixel but it is always a bit of a struggle with such small and bright targets.

After observing them visually for a while I switched out the eyepiece for my dSLR and tried some prime focus photography. By now the conditions were deteriorating and I struggled to get focus as clouds came and went. I managed to get a few photos but nothing spectacular and by now it was almost impossible to see the conjunction is it dipped down below neighbouring roofs.

Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, 19th Dec 2020

Images