Hi all,
Over the past week, the BAA held two events showcasing the historic Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Our first event last Friday (12/18) took place on a clear night, so several BAA members were able to take some great photos that evening.
These three images were taken by Dan M. and Mike P. at the club’s observatory at Beaver Meadow. The first two used our NP101 telescope and Mike’s ASI 1600 camera, and the last image used a Canon T3i DSLR. Click the pics to see them zoomed in:
We also have an image from Phil, taken on Friday, December 18th with his Questar 89mm telescope and ASI ZWO 174mm camera. I really love Jupiter in this — click on the picture to enlarge it, and try to pick out some of its famous features! Saturn is no slouch either.
Our event on Monday (12/21 – the night when Jupiter and Saturn were closest) was unfortunately clouded out in WNY, but our own webmaster Gene provided some stellar live views from his location in North Carolina. Tim from the Buffalo Museum of Science’s Kellogg Observatory showed off some photos taken from their Bistany telescope, as well as a shot of what the conjunction looked like over the Buffalo skyline. And alongside the live views, we featured member presentations relating to the conjunction and the science behind it.
If you’d like to watch the streams for yourself, the link to the December 18th (Friday) stream is here: https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloAstronomy/videos/178995867258913/
And here’s the link to the December 21st (Monday) stream: https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloAstronomy/videos/762148984383296/
We’re extremely grateful to the number of people who watched the streams live on Facebook and provided feedback, questions, and kind words. Sharing these special events is what the club is all about. Remember that even though we’ve passed the day when Jupiter and Saturn are closest, it’s not too late; they’ll still be quite close for a bit longer. If you find yourself out on a clear night, look up and check them out. That’s all I’ve got for now — hope to see everyone at the next Looking Up event in January! Healthy and happy holidays to all.
–Emilyann