Planet Scenes 2013 - 2017

Planet Scenes | Constellations | Transit of Mercury | Texas/Arizona 2019 | Lunar Eclipse 2019 | Historical

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Feb 25: Venus, Mars, and Uranus were strung out along the ecliptic in early 2017, although by this time, Venus had begun to seriously bend north of the ecliptic in preparation for its inferior conjunction in March.  This image was taken at one of the overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mar 4: Afocal view of Venus through my 120mm f/5 refractor.  Venus will be going through inferior conjunction about three weeks from now, so we can see that its phase is decreasing while its angular size is increasing. Aug 11: We saw the total eclipse of the Sun from Niota, Tennessee, and it was spectacular!  This was the saros series successor to the August 1999 eclipse across Europe that we missed out on due to clouds. Nov 20: Decent shot of Saturn and the crescent Moon over the horizon looking west from my new house in east Stafford County, Virginia.
     
  Mar 4: I captured Mars above Uranus along the ecliptic, which means in reality it is east and slightly north of Uranus.  I zoomed in so far to see the actual pixels recorded for each planet so we can see what colors the camera detected in the two cases.  Uranus' green color is real!    

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Jan 13: Mars is in Virgo, preparing for its May 2016 opposition. Oct 3: Nice trio of the crescent Moon, Venus, and α Librae. Nov 20: Venus is lower down in the evening sky, in Sagittarius, repeating a pattern she performed in 1984, 1992, 2000, and 2008. Dec 10: Venus and Mars situated in Capricornus.
Jan 13: Venus and Saturn gathered in the morning sky. Oct 28: Uranus in Pisces. Nov 20: Mars is in central Capricornus. Dec 20: Mars and Neptune were close together in Aquarius.
Feb 2: Venus and Mercury pair up in the Teaspoon asterism of Sagittarius. Nov 27: Neptune glows faintly in central Aquarius. Dec 28: Planets bright to dim are navigating the celestial sea at the end of the year.  Here we see the brightest planet, Venus (magnitude -4.32), Mars (magnitude +0.86) near σ Aquarii, and Neptune (magnitude +7.93) just above Mars.

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Jan 9: Comet Lovejoy in southern Taurus Apr 11: Venus near M45 from LaGrange Sep 27: Lunar Eclipse ~ but only partial from Virginia Oct 20: Planets in the morning in Leo
Jan 17: Venus and Mercury in the evening from Idlewild Jun 29: Venus and Jupiter having a close conjunction Oct 14: Mercury with a fine morning apparition in Virgo Oct 22: Venus, Jupiter and Mars gathering in Leo
Jan 17: Mars in Aquarius with Neptune Jun 29: Closeup of Venus and Jupiter in Leo Oct 15: Jupiter, Mars and Mercury in the autumn morning Oct 29: Venus between Jupiter and Mars in Virgo
Apr 11: Jupiter in Cancer Jul 18: Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon Oct 15: Mercury has a fine dawn apparition in Virgo Nov 4: Mars and Venus leave Jupiter behind

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Jan 9: Sunspots galore near solar maximum Apr 24: Mars near opposition in Virgo Oct 8: Total lunar eclipse visible from Virginia Nov 15: Sunspots again as solar maximum continues
Feb 1: More sunspots, this time with a different scope and filter Aug 21: Venus and Jupiter in bright dawn twilight Oct 23: Partial solar eclipse from Dahlgren Naval Base Dec 30: Comet Lovejoy is naked-eye in Lepus, showing the bright green typical of comets
Aug 25: Mars and Saturn in Libra from Blue Ridge Parkway

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Jan 10: Venus and Moon in the morning sky Mar 13: Comet Panstarrs graced our evening skies May 26: Venus, Jupiter and Mercury gathered low in the dusk Nov 3: Partial solar eclipse visible in the morning from Route 3

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