3 Planets & The Moon
September 1, 2020
(Click on Picture for larger view)

3 Planets & The Moon
FINALLY, it was a mostly clear night but a bright night though with the full moon. I photographed 3 planets and the full "Corn" moon. The planets were from the big Celestron 11" telescope set at f/20 using a 2x Barlow generating a focal length of 5600mm, while the moon was taken with the wide-field view (f/4.8 ... focal length: 384mm) of the Orion ED80T telescope. I captured the data via SharpCap Pro and in this view, stacked them in RegiStax 6.1.

Distance from Earth at the time of photograph:
Jupiter: 415,418,102 miles
Saturn: 862,207,857 miles
Mars: 45,623,095 miles
Moon: 248,003 miles

At this time, Jupiter and Saturn were moving away from earth while Mars was approaching and will be at its closest on October 13 at a distance of just under 39 million miles. However, during the end of November and into December, Jupiter and Saturn will appear very near each other in the sky, but will be separated by a half billion miles in distance. On December 21, 2020, the two will shine as one.

The 3 Planets

Mars: 45,623,095 miles away

Jupiter: 415,418,102 miles away

Saturn: 862,207,857 miles away

---

That 'Techy' Stuf
Telescope: Celstron 11" EdgeHD
2X Barlow yielding an apparent focal length of 5,600mm
Mount: Celestron CGX
Mount Control Software: Celestron PWI
Camera: Altair Hypercam 249C Pro TEC
Focus Controller: Celestron Focus Motor
Capture Sofware: Sharpcap Pro Stacked & Processed in RegiStax 6.1
Post Processing: Photoshop CC
Seeing conditions: 7 (based on 0-10 where 10 is crystal clear)
Outside Temperature: 83°F with the humidy of 82%
Bortle Light-Pollution zone: 4.5 (can barely see the Milky Way)
Date: September 1, 2020
Location: My Heavenly Backyard, Savannah GA

---

Return to Pat Prokop's Heavenly Backyard Astronomy Page