Sky watchers got a pre-Halloween treat on Saturday, October 28 as the Hunter’s full moon rose in the east with a bright companion.
Situated just a few degrees to the lower right of the moon was Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, second in brightness only to the moon and Venus in the nighttime sky. The two of them arced across the sky all night in a celestial dance. To me they appeared to move closer in their embrace so that by midnight their separation was only about the width of a finger held up at arm’s length.
Here’s a photo of the two of them in a single frame made with a 500mm telephoto lens with Jupiter the small sphere in the lower right corner. And another close up using a 1000mm lens showing the many features of the full moon.
Finally, a view of the full moonrise over Laguna Blanca as the human eye sees it.
Nice!