Close Encounters: Moon and Planets

Every so often, the Moon, planets, or both appear close to each other in the sky. Such an event is called a conjunction and presents a nice and simple astrophotographic opportunity. Photographing such events only requires only a camera and tripod, and because the Moon and planets can be easily seen from the city, a dark site is not required. Any sky calendar will tell you when these events will happen, and so checking these each month will help you plan these photos.

So what are some tips for photographing these events? Here's a few:

-          Try a low ISO as this will minimize noise. You don't need a high ISO setting, as exposures of only a second or so are all that is generally required for these bright objects. You won't gain much from a high ISO except to shorten an already short exposure.

-          Try stopping the camera lens down a bit more than its minimum f-ratio. You don't need small f-ratios because again, the moon and planets are bright. Increasing the f-ratio will help you get a sharper image.

-          It's nice to photograph conjunctions in conjunction with some terrestrial scenery (trees, mountains, and other natural scenery for example).  Sunset or sunrise conjunctions are also nice.

-          If you photograph the moon and planet(s) together when the moon is a crescent, you can also capture earthshine (more on this later), which is basically the portion of the moon not illuminated by the Sun. You can actually see – and photograph – earthshine, especially when the moon is in its crescent phase.

-          Use a cable release to trigger your camera, as always, this will avoid vibrations that blur the picture

-          Low focal length lenses will give a wider field of view, while higher focal length lenses will give a more close-up view. Which you use depends on framing, such as when you want to include terrestrial objects in your picture.

-          Focusing and framing shouldn't be too difficult, as the moon, planets and earth can all be seen easily in your camera's viewfinder.

So give it a try! Here's a close-up of the Moon and Venus close encounter image I posted earlier in the camera and tripod astrophotography. You can also see Earthshine in this picture.

And have a look at this close enc one by Bob Merhebi (one of my favorites on Flickr): http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrobob/3579385025/in/faves-astroz1/

Thanks for reading :)

and clear skies!