Maxi-Mars and mini-moon on 3.10.2020 over Melbourne.
The Red Planet is getting bigger and brighter every day as it makes its closest approach to Earth since July 2018. It is a mini-moon - a full moon that occurs at the most distant point in its orbit from earth each month - so it will appear slightly smaller than usual.
This was taken on 3rd October 2020. Shortly just before 9pm, At 8pm, Mars appeared first, and was quite red, but the moon was behind thick clouds. I had to wait for an hour before clouds cleared. The exposure of the moon was suppressed by 0.6 EV to facilitate observing the red planet, which appears as tiny red disc in the top left corner. Visually the pair was a hand span apart, but in the telephoto shot, it appears considerably further.
Maxi-Mars and mini-moon on 3.10.2020 over Melbourne.
The Red Planet is getting bigger and brighter every day as it makes its closest approach to Earth since July 2018. It is a mini-moon - a full moon that occurs at the most distant point in its orbit from earth each month - so it will appear slightly smaller than usual.
This was taken on 3rd October 2020. Shortly just before 9pm, At 8pm, Mars appeared first, and was quite red, but the moon was behind thick clouds. I had to wait for an hour before clouds cleared. The exposure of the moon was suppressed by 0.6 EV to facilitate observing the red planet, which appears as tiny red disc in the top left corner. Visually the pair was a hand span apart, but in the telephoto shot, it appears considerably further.