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Summary: The five brightest
planets converged in the evening western sky this month. Four
of them (Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Mercury) formed an eye-catching
knot during the first week of May. On May 10th and 11th, Venus
and Mars drew so close together that they resembled a bright
double star. Learn
more
from Science@NASA.
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Unless otherwise
stated, all images are copyrighted by the photographers.
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Photographer, Location, Date |
Larger images |
Comments |
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Dominic
Cantin, 75 km north of Quebec City, Canada
May 11 |
#1, #2, #3 |
D. Cantin was visiting the Laurentides wildlife
reserve when he captured these pictures of the planets during
a geomagnetic storm. The striking "double star" in
each of the images is Venus and mars. Photo details: 28 mm @
f 2.8, ~25 sec, Fuji Superia 800 |
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Lauri
Kangas, Caledon, Ontario, Canada
May 10 |
#1, #2 |
Photo details: Nikon Coolpix 995 digital camera,
8 second exposure, f/2.6, ISO 200. |
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Bartek
Okonek, Leszno, Poland
May 10 |
#1, #2 |
B. Okonek: "Image
#1 shows Jupiter, Venus and two finderscopes of my telescope.
Image #2 is a close-up
of Venus and Mars. The planets were closer together than the
diameter of the Moon (30')" |
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Terry V.
Lutz, northern Ohio, USA
May 10 |
#1 |
The full-sized
version of this image clearly shows Mars and Venus -- a striking
"double star" hovering above the lake. Photo details:
Canon A40 digital camera, 15 second exposure at f2.8. |
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Peter Paice,
Belfast, Northern Ireland
May 10 |
#1 |
P. Paice: "Clouds parted for a while enabling
me to image the planets (Mars and Venus) using a 6" refractor
and afocal coupling to my Olympus 2040Z digital camera. Settings
were f2.3, 200ASA and exp.0.3sec." |
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Stan
Richard, Des Moines, Iowa
May 9 |
#1,
#2, more |
In this image, the planets shine beside the brightly-lit
capital building in Des Moines, Iowa. |
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Steve Winchester,
Portage Lake, Pinckney, Michigan
May 9 |
#1 |
Venus and Mars appear remarkably close together
in this snapshot captured by S. Winchester using a Canon G2 digital
camera (10 sec exposure at f/2.2). |
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Jimmy Westlake,
Yampa, Colorado
May 8 |
#1,
#2 |
Photo details: Kodak Max 400 film, 35 mm lens
at f3.3. |
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Les Marczi,
Ontario, Canada
May 7 |
#1 |
L. Marczi: "I took these using my Nikon
995 digital camera from the vineyards near my home in southern
Ontario." |
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Denis
Joye, 40 km west of Paris, France, May 7 |
#1 |
Photo details: 8 seconds exposure with an EPSON
3000 digital camera. |
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Lauri
Kangas, Caledon, Ontario, Canada
May 7 |
#1, #2,
#3 |
Photo details: Nikon Coolpix 995 digital camera,
2 to 8 second exposures, f/2.6 and ISO 200. |
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Wah!,
Hong Kong
May 6 |
#1 |
In spite of urban light pollution, the planets
were visible after sunset in Hong Kong. |
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Don Koenigsberg,
Bryn Mawr, PA, May 5 |
#1, #2 |
This picture
shows three planets behind the photographer's daughter. |
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Mike O'Leary,
El Cajon, CA, May 5 |
#1 |
M. O'Leary: "This was the view from El Cajon,
CA. A little haze, but otherwise a beautiful sight. This shot
was taken at 8:30 using a Canon G-2. The exposure was 15 sec
@ f/2.5." |
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Mike
O'Melia, New York, NY, May 3 |
#1, #2 |
These must-see images show Venus, Mars and Saturn
above the Empire State Building in New York. Photo details: Nikon
FM2 with 85mm-1.4 @ f/4; 4secs exposure on EBX Elitechrome Xtra
Color film. |
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Peter Paice,
Belfast, Northern Ireland, May 5 |
#1, #2 |
P. Paice: "We were blessed with a clear
sunset over the hills behind Belfast. Image details: Olympus
2040z digital camera, set at f2.3, 1sec.,400ASA equivalent. 21.30hrs
UT." |
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Chris
Schur
and John Offarell, Payson, Arizona, USA
May 4 |
#1 |
On May
4th faint Comet
Utsunomiya
glided by Mercury just 3.3 arcminutes from the planet "We
were surpised at the appearance of the comet, a broad fan split
down the middle," says Schur. "The tail was short in
binoculars, and the pair set just as it was barely dark enough
to photograph them." |
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Lauri
Kangas, Caledon, Ontario, Canada
May 4 |
#1 |
L Kangas: "Photo taken on May 4, 2002 at
9:26 p.m. with a Nikon Coolpix 995 with .63x wide converter.
Exposure was 4 seconds at f/2.6 and ISO 200." |
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Schindler
Leung, Hong Hong
May 3 |
#1, more |
Venus and the other planets are easy to see in
this image despite the
bright urban lights of Hong Kong. |
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Les Marczi,
Ontario, Canada
May 3 |
#1, #2 |
L. Marczi: "I took these using my Nikon
995 digital camera from the vineyards near my home in southern
Ontario." |
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Ron Giachetti,
Spokane, WA
May 3 |
#1 |
R. Giachetti: "Everyone seems to be missing
marking one planet that, even though it is obvious, when marked,
makes me think more about how much a part of star stuff we all
really are." He means, of course, Earth. |
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Steve Sumner,
Mount Shasta, CA
May 3 |
#1, #2,
more |
This picture was taken from Mount Shasta, CA.
A pretty array of 5 planets is arranged above the volcanic cinder
cone Black Butte. |
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Stan
Richard, near Des Moines, IA
May 2 |
#1, #2,
#3, more |
S. Richard: "I just got back from a beautiful
evening under the stars viewing the planet alignment at one of
my favorite dark sky sites: Saylorville Lake near Des Moines,
IA. I shot these photos with my Nikon 950 digital camera." |
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Giampiero
Mascelli, Rome, Italy
May 1 |
#1 |
Venus and Mercury appear in this twilight photo
looking across Rome. |
MORE IMAGES
See
also our April 2002 Gallery |
