Solar System

Moon and Mars Conjunction

Posted on by Shawn Nielsen

On July 5th, 2014, the first quarter Moon met up with the red planet Mars in the evening sky. I was fortunate enough it was clear and I was able to take this photo of the pairing.

When two ore more celestial bodies come together in the sky (from our perspective on Earth) it is called a conjunction.

Moon and Mars conjunctionView higher res image here

Technical:

William Optics Zenith star 71mm APO ED Refractor
SBIG 8300M CCD camera
R-G-B frames were obtained for Mars colour. OIII filter was used to capture the Moon.
Shot from my driveway in Kitchener, Ontario.

Shawn Nielsen
Shawn Nielsen

My story began more than 40 years ago looking up at the Moon with a small collapsible telescope my Father had. Encouraged by my parents, who bought me my very own telescope, a 4.5" reflector, I began to explore the night sky from my family home backyard. Today I do astrophotography from my home in Kitchener, Ontario and also with remote telescopes located in New Mexico and Australia. Some of my images have won awards and have been featured online and in magazines.

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