The "Christmas Star" Conjunction
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hambirm2018
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Here is ours from Colorado:
Enjoy
Enjoy
Really great image, but important to understand it’s a composite image. As the OP states, it’s several separate exposures, one of each planet, then merged together with each in the correct relative position. An optic with that resolving power would not have a wide enough field of view to see both planets at once. And an exposure to capture the rings and swirls would not capture the moons. Note he used two different cameras, a DSLR and an astrophotography one.
Not dinging the image, I’d be happy and proud to call it mine. But just an explanation of how it was made.
Tony
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Ez2cDave
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Great shots !
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Thanks for the explanation, Tony. It's a truly great picture regardless of the special processing. I'm an amateur astrophotographer myself (I was unable to get a shot myself due to clouds), but I could see that there was some special processing; I knew that I couldn't get both planets in the same view at that magnification with my own equipment. I'm envious!
Peter
I was wondering; Saturn seemed too big relative to Jupiter. Thanks for the explanation.
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The orientation of the two planets is incorrect in the composite image. Easy for him to modify to make it an even better image.
Goes to show how much I know. I put it down to inversion due to the mirror!
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The relative orientation of the two planets, not the orientation of the photo!
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One thing though, a real single image would show Saturn much smaller than Jupiter, both because it IS smaller and because it is further away.
NateB
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Those composite photos and heavy editing are neat to see, but they lead to comments like the one made earlier where what can be seen by the rest of us is underwhelming. This is a neat phenomenon, but with the naked eye the planets do look like a bright star.
When I was in high school, a friends dad and the astronomical society had an observatory at a nearby summer camp. When observing galaxies many of the campers were disappointed the galaxy just look like a blurry smudge. The fact they were seeing a galaxy so far away was lost on them compared to the images seen in text books. This one, and the comet over the summer, is the same thing.
When I was in high school, a friends dad and the astronomical society had an observatory at a nearby summer camp. When observing galaxies many of the campers were disappointed the galaxy just look like a blurry smudge. The fact they were seeing a galaxy so far away was lost on them compared to the images seen in text books. This one, and the comet over the summer, is the same thing.
![IMG_9330[1].PNG](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/rocketryforum/data/attachments/360/360392-6c1b6d7a6b84afc3228803ca77d6a7a7.jpg)
That's what I mean... Dumbo me didn't even realize that! Thanks also for your mighty fine photos on the 1st page!
Here's another image from last night (Dec 21st). I made multiple exposures (manually - you can see where I goofed up the timing) without moving the camera and then composited them in Photoshop. I created a Smart Object Stack and then applied the stack mode of Maximum to blend all the images together. (Just a fancy way of basically blending the brightest area of each image into a final image, so no cutting and pasting or anything like that.) You can see how the moons get brighter as the sky gets darker. The grid pattern is probably an artifact of either the Bayer pattern or other sensor issues.
Tony
Tony
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JPalmer621
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Took the family out to see it. Not space buffs like me but they did enjoy it
Oh, yeah! Same here in Western PA, since Saturday...
Looked that here in NW Wisconsin.
Ez2cDave
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From a friend of mine in South Florida . . . Shot from a bridge in the Florida Keys.
I have no idea what photo equipment was used.
Dave F.
I have no idea what photo equipment was used.
Dave F.
Of all the views I've ever shown people through any of my telescopes, the winner by a mile for the most "oohs and aahs" is Saturn. Even though everyone has seen pictures, the first time they see those rings with their own eyes makes a remarkable impression. I can still remember the first time I saw those rings (clearly) myself, when I was 11, looking through a 60mm Sears refractor at around 100x. Once you know what to look for, you can even discern the rings through ordinary 7x35 binoculars (it appears as a barely-perceptible oval disk). On the other hand, the only really impressive visual view of a galaxy that I've seen was of M51 through a huge 24" dobsonian reflector (standing on a stepladder just to reach the eyepiece).
Peter
NateB
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I agree, Saturn's rings and Jupiter's bands with the Galilean moons were the most impressive things to view and share for most people. I think the camp observatory had a 12" reflector and they would set up 6" reflectors and small refractors as well. I'll have to ask my friend if he remembers what his dad used out there.
The actual Christmas stars are explained fully in the documentary below. It has nothing to do with Jupiter or Saturn
Ez2cDave
Well-Known Member
I prefer the original source material . . . It is available in most book stores, has an Old and New section, with red lettering to highlight the most important quotations, and has been translated into virtually every language on the planet !
Dave F.
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