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Even though these pictures were taken the day after the closest approach of Jupiter and Saturn to each other that has been observed in 800 years, it was still an impressive sight.

I wasn’t sure how good the viewing angle would be from the cul-de-sac last night so I was content to see where they were with binoculars with some of the more nerdly-inclined neighbours.

Tonight’s fun would involve bringing out the longest focal-length camera setup in the arsenal…a tripod mounted combination of the D7000 plus the 300mm f/4 lens and 2x teleconverter yielding an effective focal length for 35mm film of an astounding 900mm. Sadly, the one thing I don’t have is a nice camera-mounted monitor which would make finding and focusing in on the planets much easier. Unfortunately, that external monitor kind of has to take a back seat to the necessity of a working heat pump… 🙁

Anywho, the first three images are screen-shots from Star Walk 2 which gives you an idea of where everything is situated. The following images are the best shots from a somewhat ageing and shaky tripod that definitely could use replacing so it’s only slightly better than hand-held at shutter speeds not really meant for shots without a rock-steady tripod and a remote shutter release.

But if you look carefully, you can see Jupiter’s moons in a line from NW to SE of Jupiter itself (which is on the left), Saturn’s characteristic yellow colouration, and the very faint hint of Saturn’s rings.

IMO, not bad for a less-than-ideal tripod situation with 900mm with no magnification other than what the teleconverter and the APS-C crop-sensor in the D7000 is already doing…especially when you consider they’re about half a billion and a billion miles away from the Earth. 🙂