Conjunctions
Five Planets
Planetary Conjunctions
A favorite target of astrophotographers is conjunctions. This is where astronomical objects, typically the Moon and planets are aligned line-of-sight, even though one object might be much further away.
This image of the crescent Moon, Venus and Mercury taken in January 1975 might the earliest astrophoto I have taken.
The image of the Moon passing in front of Venus was taken April 22, 2009.
This conjunction of Venus and Jupiter was taken from Landers, California on August 27, 2016.
Venus in the Pleiades on April 3, 2020.
Eight planets were visible at the same time at dawn on June 24, 2022. From left to right, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn.
On June 2, 2023, Mars passed through the Beehive Star Cluster.