Sunday, May 3, 2009

Lunar, Pleiades and Mercury Conjunction


My last post I discussed the Mercury, Pleiades conjunction, well on April 26 the Moon joined the gathering.


What a beautiful sight. Each of the celestial objects took their turns being covered and then breaking through the clouds to allow me to be able to capture the trio.

Lunar , Pleiades Conjunction April 26 2009.

Mercury, Pleiades Conjunction April 24 2009.

This was like a super dooper 3 part conjunction. First you had Mercury and the Pleiades, then the Moon arrives for part II, then the Moon leaves for part III. Since I don't get to image Mercury that often and the fact I love the Pleiades I made it my week long project to capture the part III conjunction to show Mercury drawing closer to the Pleiades, kind of cool, the way they move through the sky.

Mercury, Pleiades Conjunction April 26 2009

Mercury, Pleiades Conjunction April 27 2009.

Mercury, Pleiades Conjunction April 28 2009.

Mercury, Pleiades Conjunction April 29 2009

Mercury, Pleiades Conjunction May 1 2009.

Mercury, Pleiades Conjunction May 2 2009.


Finally I'd like to mention about a cool new website that was just launched; " Portal To The Universe". It is another cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. It's an easy to navigate web 2.0 based astronomy site. Like a supermarket of websites, one stop shopping where you can go see the latest space images , listen to pod watch vodcasts, read about the latest happenings in space, see the current locations of the ISS or Hubble, and more. If you like space news and the such, check it out.

I'll leave you now with an animation of one of my Lunar, Pleiades and Mercury Conjunction


51 comments:

AngelBaby said...

Wow, I am the first I think. I loved the pictures they are great as usual. I am amazed at how everything moves around, it seems like they would stay in one place. How much do we move around on this planet?

I have something for you on my site so come and see ......

Love and Blessings,
AngelBaby

Moonshadow said...

Great shots as usual, Bob! I haven't been out much to see if I can see any stars lately. We've been overcast for about a week now. We've had some fantastic thunder and lightning, but I don't really have a good place to shoot lightning from and my hubby freaks out if I go out on the porch when it's like that. :)

Stephanie Barr said...

I'm a complete sucker for the misty moon views. Lovely!

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Angel Baby, Everything is moving, we rotate on our axis, we revolve around the Sun, Mercury revolves around the Sun, all at different speeds, but the main thing everything is constant so they can figure where everything should be and at one time very precisely. Thanks I will be over soon AngelBaby.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Moonshadow, too bad about the clouds, we have been so lucky with clear skies lately with no lightning, your husband is right, you just never know with lightning.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Stephanie, got lucky with the clouds on that one.\m/\m/

RW said...

I been gone awhile Bob! But I see you kept busy and awesome photography as usual man!!

kRiZcPEc said...

great shots, all of them! Thanks for sharing. :)

Peter said...

Hi! Loved the meeting of the ways in the conjunction images. Reminds me of when the wife and I used to meet up in the hospital cafeteria before we got married. Bashful as ever I'd duck for cover behind a newspaper, then, poke my head around to see if she was looking my way. Always did look forward to seeing her again, even if it was for a fleeting moment like your story about the Moon and Mars!

Take Care,
Peter

Mike said...

Thanks for sharing your great photography. I hope you submit your work to portal of the universe site for others to enjoy. We had Spacetacular Saturday this past Saturday at McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center - very well attended! Many folks came out to enjoy a day of space and astronomy.

Final_Transit said...

Very nice pictures. I can imagine your excitement at being able to capture such moments. :)

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Roger, good to see you back again.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks kRiZ cPEc, glad you like the shots, they were fun to take.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Mike, I will look at doing that sometime. Glad to hear about your turnout, very cool.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Peter and thanks for sharing your story, always a pleasure to read your adventures, too cool.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Priyank, it was a lot of fun to watch the conjunctions take place, the sky is so beautiful and mysterious.\m/\m/

MYM said...

Wow, these photos are amazing! I especially love the 1st one. The colours are spectacular - especially considering they're at night.

Swubird said...

Bob:

Cool shots of the conjunctions. Talking about the Pleiades, I remember about twenty-five years ago there was a large format book published about UFO's. The book must have been a good 11X14 with high gloss paper. The author claimed to have actual physical proof of a UFO visitation, and he said that they came from the Pleiades. If nothing else, the book contained some great shots. So, the next time you focus your telescope on the Seven Sisters, keep a watchful eye out for anything unusual. LOL.

Hey that's a great new website.

Happy trails.

Ivanhoe said...

Of course I missed it all because it was cloudy & actually raining here for three days straight. But I can enjoy it here as always :o)

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Drowsey, you have a good eye for celestial images, that has got to be one of my favorite conjunction images ever, because of the clouds, colors and objects captured.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks swubird, I remember you telling me about the before, very cool, I'd like to get a hold of that book.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Ivanhoe, too bad for you about the rain, glad you got to look at them here though.\m/\m/

Marvin said...

Super ooper dooper lovely, as always!

Max Coutinho said...

Hey Bob :D!

God blessed you with some supa dupa conjunctions, eh? Gorgeous pictures, Lord of the Astropics :D!

Thanks for the link to the new site, I will drop by and check it out!

Bob, I wish you a fantastic week ahead! Have loads of fun!

Cheers :D

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Marvin.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Max, I hope you like the site it is very cool, and have a great week too.\m/\m/

Astro-Nuts said...

Tres cool Bob. Good shooting.

The Leaves of Tarkong said...

wow, i've been blown away by this blog. wonderful pics and info...

would be great to see you at my site, too :)

kml said...

Your animations just get better and better, Bob, with your beautiful images!

Can't wait to check out the new website. My husband will love it!

Will said...

Hi Bob - I know there is all kinds of important astronomical stuff going on in all the photos, but I really like the second one because it is just so darn pretty!

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

Bob, what beautiful photos!!! I have had another other-worldly experience. You always have me thinking about science fiction when I visit but I know it is science non-fiction.:D

Thanks for the portal link. I'm going to check it out now. :D

Hugs, JJ

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Colin, and thanks for the cool meteorites.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks The Leaves of Tarkong, I liked your site as well.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Kathy, I'm sure you guys will like the site.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Will, one of my fav as well, love the way it makes a pretty animation.\m/\m/

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks JJ, the stars always make me think of fiction as well, cool thing is it isn't, happening around as all the time if we only take time to look.\m/\m/

Sherer said...

Bob,

Very cool pics here. I really like the Pleiades shots. Any big events comin up in the sky?

Jesse

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Jesse, actually tonight the Moon at rising is very close to Antares. Then on the 21st of May we have a beautiful conjunction of the Moon, Venus and Mars, look east 1 hour before Sunrise.\m\m/

The Earth said...

Thats really wonderful sights.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks The Earth, and thanks for dropping by.\m/\m/

7th heaven said...

The 2nd and 3rd pics are awesome. U've got a gr8 blog man. WIsh I had a telescpoe too!!!!!!

myonlyphoto said...

Hey Bob thanks for the good info, I will definitely check the site, and your images of the conjuctions are amazing, and the moon. BTW 2 months away from your trip, are going to take you new Celestron scope with you? Anna :)

Genie said...

I missed this conjunction because of a conjunction of family members in my home! I loved the family reunion, however, so all was not lost. I knew I'd get to see what I missed on your blog anyway.

Most excellently captured!

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James said...

I'm a complete sucker for the misty moon views. Lovely! Thesis AND Dissertation AND Essay AND Assignment
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