(Posted by my friend Diana)
I took this photo of the Moon, Venus and Jupiter from a jet at 32,000 ft when I was flying back to Knoxville from Minnesota on December 1st, 2008. I was pretty amazed I got such a good shot due to trying to block out the light reflection off the planes inside window and the slight bumpiness at that part of the flight.

Diana

Full Moon, Venus and Jupiter

Surprise! There are no spiders, snakes or other creepy crawlies in this entry! :)
I got my Christmas present a couple of weeks early and I couldn't wait to try it out! The "gift" was a Nikon ED82 spotting scope and FSA-L1 camera adapter. Unfortunately, a very important component --- the universal mounting bracket for the tripod attachment---was back ordered, so I had to compromise. I put the camera/scope up on a sofa pillow and rested it on the patio railing to get this shot of the full moon at perigee. It is at the closest to the Earth in its orbit now. I can tell that I am really going to enjoy having the spotting scope! Look at the difference between the photo taken with it and my 300mm telephoto lens. The spotting scope shot is not cropped, the telephoto lens shot is fairly heavily cropped. For more information about perigee and apogee, check out: http://www.easttennesseewildflowers.com/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=moon&id=Copy_of_Moon_12_08b

I can tell that I am really going to enjoy having the spotting scope! Look at the difference between the photo taken with it (left) and my 300mm telephoto lens (right). The spotting scope shot is not cropped, the telephoto lens shot is fairly heavily cropped.










Moon taken with spotting scope




At the end of November we had another interesting "celestial phenomenon", Venus, Jupiter and the waxing crescent moon were very close together (this won't happen again until 2052!). I took my telephoto lens out and tried to get a photo. I have just the 2 planets in this photo, this was taken the next night (due to clouds the previous night) and the moon was a bit farther away. I was excited to get 3 of Jupiter's moons in this shot. Gee, I wish I would have had my spotting scope that night! Click on the photo to enlarge it.








Venus and Jupiter and 3 moons

If you don't normally go out and look at the night sky, please do! The moon, the planets, constellations, satellites and space station, and even the occasional "shooting star" are beautiful to see! :) Even if you don't have a telescope or binoculars, you can still enjoy them. Winter skies offer clear air and some great constellations to view.

Happy Holidays to my readers!