Venus and Jupiter after the Conjunction
July 6, 2015
On July 6, 2015, brilliant Venus was about 2.7° east (left) of bright Jupiter in this view from Swede Run in Moorestown, NJ. This is my first view of the pair since the pervious Monday evening, June 29, 2015, because of ongoing cloudy weather (and they yielded only a brief opportunity on this evening). In the past week, the two had their closest approach on June 30th, conjunction on July 1st and Venus has now moved to the opposite (east) side of Jupiter. Taken at 9:26 pm EDT with a Canon 40D digital SLR camera (on a fixed tripod) and a Canon 24 to 105 mm f/4L zoom lens set to 24 mm focal length. Exposed 1.3 seconds at f/4, ISO 400. Click here for the complete set of covergence/conjunction pictures.
Venus and Jupiter Close the Gap
June 29, 2015
On June 29 2015, brilliant Venus was about 0.6° west (below-right) of bright Jupiter in this view from Cherry Hill, NJ, looking over the Cooper River towards center-city Philadelphia, six miles away. The two planets are also reflecting off the river in the foreground, as do the two towers of the Cooper River Plaza in Pennsauken, NJ, to the right of center city. Taken at 10:18 pm EDT with a Canon 6D digital SLR camera (on a fixed tripod) and a Canon 24 to 105 mm f/4L zoom lens set to 50 mm focal length. Exposed 0.7 seconds at f/4, ISO 800. The planets are about 7° altitude and 284° azimuth.
This view was taken at 10:44:11 pm EDT with a Canon 6D digital SLR camera and a Canon 70 to 200 mm f/2.8L zoom lens (on a fixed tripod) set to 200 mm focal length. Exposed 1/2 second at f/4, ISO 800. Jupiter is directly above Two Liberty Place at 2°49' altitude, 287°50' azimuth while Venus is directly above One Liberty Place at 2°22' altitude, 288°16' azimuth. They were 38'17" (0.64°) apart at the time [data from SkyTools based on the location (and time) from the camera's internal GPS]. Soon afterwards, the planetary pair disappeared into imperceptible cloudiness along the horizon. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the evening of June 30th, when Venus and Jupiter make their closest approach, looks unfavorable.
Venus and Jupiter Convergence Continues
June 22, 2015
On June 22, 2015, brilliant Venus was 4.6° west of bright Jupiter (above-left of Venus) in this view looking west-northwest across Chatsworth Lake in Woodland Township, NJ (note their reflections off the still water of the lake). Regulus, the Alpha star of Leo the Lion, is 10° above-left of Jupiter. This image was captured at 10:24 pm EDT with a Canon 6D digital SLR camera (on a fixed tripod) and a Canon 24-105 mm f/4L zoom lens set to 35 mm focal length. It was exposed 6 seconds at f/4, ISO 1600. At the time, Jupiter was at 10½° altitude and Venus was at 8½° altitude.
Venus and Jupiter Continue to Converge
June 16, 2015
On June 16, 2015, brilliant Venus was 8½° west of bright Jupiter (above-left of Venus) in this view looking towards center-city Philadelphia (6 miles away) from the Cuthbert Boulevard bridge crossing the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, NJ. This image was captured at 10:54 pm EDT with a Canon 6D digital SLR camera (on a fixed tripod) and a Canon 100 mm f/2.8L macro lens. It was exposed 1 second at f/5.6, ISO 1600. At the time, Jupiter was at 8½° altitude, 284° azimuth while Venus was at 5° altitude, 291½° azimuth. The Cooper River Plaza in Pennsauken, NJ, is in the right foreground.
Venus and Jupiter Converge
June 10, 2015
The brilliant planet Venus (center) was 13° west of the bright planet Jupiter (above-left of Venus) in this view looking over Chatsworth Lake in Chatsworth, NJ, at 9:32 pm EDT on June 10, 2015. Venus and Jupiter will be at conjunction (in right ascension) on July 1st at 10 am EDT when Jupiter is 0.4° north of Venus, but they will make their closest approach (a third of a degree apart) ten hours earlier at midnight. Since they will have set by then for observers in this area (nominally 40° north, 75° west), we will see them at their closest on the evening of June 30th. Taken with a Canon 6D digital SLR camera (on a fixed tripod) and a Canon 24-105 mm, f/4L zoom lens set to 24 mm focal length. Exposed 8 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 1600. Mouseover for labels.
Since it's only a short distance from Chatsworth, I took a ride over to Coyle Field after I finished at the lake. The image below was captured there at 10:11 pm EDT. Venus is right of center, just above the tree tops, and a line from Venus to the upper-left through Jupiter extends to Regulus, the Alpha star of the constellation Leo. Just left of Venus, the small hazy patch is M44, the Beehive Cluster (mouseover for a close-up crop). My car is in the foreground, illuminated by manually sweeping it with the beam from a red LED flashlight during the exposure. Same camera and focal length as above, but exposed 10 seconds at f/4, ISO 3200.
Click here for some older images.
