What's up in the sky this month?

All month we have had brilliant Venus and Jupiter converging in the evening sky in the west up to an hour and more after sunset. They are going to get much closer together yet until 30th June when they will be just 1/3 of a degree apart (less than the diameter of the Moon) a view that will look great through even a small telescope. Check out the details in this Science@NASA video below.

From a photographic point of view, the most rewarding capture is likely to occur on the 20th June, when the crescent Moon joins the show. The three brightest celestial objects in the sky will form a triangle about 10 degrees wide. For comparison, the image below of a previous conjunction (shortlisted in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year Awards) has a field of view about 8 degrees wide.
 

Venus and Mars in conjunction with Moon below Feb 20 2015 © Martin Campbell
As published by Huffington Post

You can photograph the conjunction with a wide lens for a view more like the NASA video thumbnail above, or for a longer focal length like Martin's you will want a lens up to ~180mm on a full frame camera or ~120mm on a cropped sensor camera. Use your camera light meter to work out exposure in the rapidly changing light but use a sturdy tripod and try and keep the ISO moderately low while pushing the exposure time up to about 1 second or so as twilight gets darker. Any longer than 2-3 seconds and you will start to see some trailing. Bracket your exposures to cover the wide brightness range the scene will present and you could even try some HDR composites.

In the Americas (western hemisphere) the Moon will be closing in by the evening of the 19th while in Asia and Australia it will still be worth a shot on the evening of the 21st as well. If you miss out this month, you can have another crack on the 18th July when the Moon swings by again with the positions of Venus and Jupiter reversed in the sky. 

Sky Charts for June

 

 

The World at Night 2015 Photo Contest

• Where to find the ten most common night sky photography settings on the dials and menus of just about every DSLR from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and Olympus. I guarantee your DSLR is included or your money back, but you can also view the full list of included models here.
• Updated recommendations on wide angle lenses to use for night sky photography.
• Image processing section has been updated with instructions for Lightroom 5 and ACDsee Pro 8.
• New instructions for processing star trails with StarStax and updated info on rendering timelapse videos with Virtual Dub.
• A detailed page on "Using Your Timer Remote (Intervalometer)" for star trails and timelapse.
• Checklist of "What to Pack" before heading out on a night sky photography expedition.
• Updated lists of Lunar Eclipses and Phases of the Moon.

Get your copy now with a $5 discount using offer code NEWSLETTER.
 
Phil Hart
June 2015