2020 "Christmas Star" Jupiter and Saturn Conjunction
2020 "Christmas Star" Jupiter and Saturn conjunction taken on Monday, December 21, 2020 (Winter Solstice), at Antelope Island State Park in Utah. This photograph incorporates separate stacked and processed images for both Jupiter and Saturn (necessary due to differing exposure requirements).
A conjunction of two bright planets like Jupiter and Saturn creates an especially bright “star” in the sky. Articles have fondly labeled this event the 2020 “Christmas Star” on account of having lined up for the Winter Solstice and in reference to the Star of Bethlehem, which may have been a triple conjunction involving Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation Pices. Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions occur every 20 some-odd years, but this particular conjunction represents the closest they crossed over, from our perspective, since 1623 (and the closest regionally observable event since 1226). And, of course, these conjunctions occur on whichever day pleases them most.
See the landscape photograph
Technical Details
A single reference photograph of the Jupiter and Saturn conjunction was taken for placement of planets and another at higher ISO was taken to place moons. A separate series of images were taken and stacked for both Jupiter and Saturn with satellites (~100/ea, necessary as differences in brightness require separate exposures to resolve details) and stacked in Starry Landscape Stacker for satellites. The planet exposures were initially prepared and aligned in Lightroom and Photoshop, then crops exported to AutoStakkert! Where the best exposures were stacked and initially processed (Lucky Imaging). The final result was cleaned up and combined in Adobe Photoshop. Images were captured on December 21, 2020, and shot using the Olympus E-M1 III using the 300/4 Pro and x2 TC. Beautiful skies and conditions at Antelope Island State Park helped a great deal.
2020 "Christmas Star" Jupiter and Saturn Conjunction
2020 "Christmas Star" Jupiter and Saturn conjunction taken on Monday, December 21, 2020 (Winter Solstice), at Antelope Island State Park in Utah. This photograph incorporates separate stacked and processed images for both Jupiter and Saturn (necessary due to differing exposure requirements).
A conjunction of two bright planets like Jupiter and Saturn creates an especially bright “star” in the sky. Articles have fondly labeled this event the 2020 “Christmas Star” on account of having lined up for the Winter Solstice and in reference to the Star of Bethlehem, which may have been a triple conjunction involving Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation Pices. Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions occur every 20 some-odd years, but this particular conjunction represents the closest they crossed over, from our perspective, since 1623 (and the closest regionally observable event since 1226). And, of course, these conjunctions occur on whichever day pleases them most.
See the landscape photograph
Technical Details
A single reference photograph of the Jupiter and Saturn conjunction was taken for placement of planets and another at higher ISO was taken to place moons. A separate series of images were taken and stacked for both Jupiter and Saturn with satellites (~100/ea, necessary as differences in brightness require separate exposures to resolve details) and stacked in Starry Landscape Stacker for satellites. The planet exposures were initially prepared and aligned in Lightroom and Photoshop, then crops exported to AutoStakkert! Where the best exposures were stacked and initially processed (Lucky Imaging). The final result was cleaned up and combined in Adobe Photoshop. Images were captured on December 21, 2020, and shot using the Olympus E-M1 III using the 300/4 Pro and x2 TC. Beautiful skies and conditions at Antelope Island State Park helped a great deal.