The Nikon D40 with a standard 55 mm lens yields a field of view that is equivalent to a full frame camera using an 82 or 83 mm lens, so this is a fairly telephoto view, only about 24° across. |
Jupiter spent the year in Libra but is now moving eastward as it approaches conjunction
with the Sun; when it next emerges into the morning sky, it will be in Scorpius and the
southwestern outskirts of Ophiuchus. For now, Jupiter is joined by Venus,
which is just now concluding a long evening appari-tion. It will end with a very
southerly pass below
the Sun during its inferior conjunction, just like it did in 2010, 2002, and 1994 before that.
This evening, Jupiter is magnitude -1.88 and Venus is -4.55, about the brightest it can get. Note how far south of the ecliptic Venus is here; my planet-arium software shows it being 5°29' south of the ecliptic on this date. |