Watching the Triple Planetary Alignment - 1
An eager skywatcher gazes at the Triple Planetary Alignment from the sky deck of Bifrost Astronomical Observatory. The planets Jupiter, Venus and Mercury (left to right) are visible in this image shot during evening twilight on May 23. This part of a several-week-long triple planetary alignment as all three bright planets appear together in the evening sky. The planets will move closer together each night culminating in a conspicuous triangle on the evening of May 26.
Complete details on this celestial event can be found on the Portal to the Universe blog post Triple Planetary Alignment. To preview how the event will change from night-to-night, see the Triple Planetary Alignment Viewing Charts.
For photos of this event, see Triple Planetary Alignment Gallery.
Technical Details
- Object: Watching the Triple Planetary Alignment - 1
- Date/Time: 2013 May 24 from 02:44 UTC
- Location: Bifrost Astronomical Observatory, Portal, AZ
- Tripod: Bogen 3001
- Lens: Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens at 70 mm
- Camera: Nikon D90
- Exposure: 1/2s, f/11, ISO 400
- File Name: Triple13-pat01w.jpg
- Processing (Adobe Camera Raw): Noise Reduction, Lens Correction
- Processing (Photoshop CS6): Curves
- Original Image Size: 2848 x 4288 pixels (12.2 MP); 9.5" x 14.3" @ 300 dpi
- Rights: Copyright 2013 by Fred Espenak. All Rights Reserved. See: Image Licensing.