Autumn 2009: Having a great time with new Orion XT8 Dobsonian telescope, and Meade LPI imager, and Sony point-and-shoot camera mounted on rigid bracket. The moon series was fun, and needs more shots, but weather and sky conditions don't always accommodate. That, and the fact the moon starts to rise way too late in the night. 
 

Dec. 1, 2008: Venus, Jupiter and the Moon show a rare gathering in the evening sky...


Venus is the lower object, and the brightest (-4.1). Jupiter is moving further out on its orbit, so is smaller, and less bright (-2.0). Jupiter is keeping it's steady march westward, keeping pace pretty much with the stars as the season moves on. Venus is in the midst of a fancy little dance that has it backing up each night relative to Jupiter. A few days earlier, Venus was to the right of Jupiter, but on this night it was to the left. The Moon just happens to be "new" (4 days old on Dec. 1), and finds itself close to the planets for two nights in a row: Nov. 30 it was to the right and below. Dec. 1 it is to the left and above as you see in the photos above. The Moon was showing some good "earthshine," catching the reflected light off Earth to illuminate what would otherwise be dark on this phase of the Moon.

Camera: Sony DSC-W300.
Telescope: Meade ETX-80; 26 mm eyepiece.