The Conjunction of Jupiter and Venus

On February 23rd 1999 Jupiter and Venus appeared in our skies a mere 0.15 degrees apart. As was inevitable under such circumstances the skies were cloudy but the following images were recorded under clear skies on the previous night. To record this event under a scenic backdrop I drove out to St. Aldhelm's Head , Worth Matravers, Dorset U.K. which is a promontory into the English Channel with a western horizon looking back to Weymouth and the Isle of Portland. As the sun set this was the vista recorded by my video camera ( all images frame grabbed using Motion Picture vs 1.0).

At 17.45h U.T. I could just spot Venus in small binoculars, however the sky was too bright yet for the camera to record it. The following image pans to the left of the previous one and the Isle of Portland can be seen in the far distance.

The wind was gusting force 4-5 here and to get some shelter I took a series of images through 35mm camera in the shelter of  the twelfth century Norman Chapel dedicated to St.Aldhelm. I'll post some images later after processing. I returned to my observatory and by this time the skies were now dark. Both planets were now a dazzling site and surprisingly I found that video camera was able to record them, and with a bit of  processing this image shows them above my dome.

Back in the observatory I fired up the CCD and 28mm camera lens and obtained this image a few seconds before the clouds rolled in. Within half an hour a beautiful clear cloudless night was now swamped and the whole show  was over. Venus is the brighter of the two and over the next few days will pass to the north of Jupiter.

February 27th 1999

Clear skies beckoned for a further attempt at video recording  the Jupiter Venus conjunction. Now four days after the main event Venus is rising higher above Jupiter. The image below  was again taken out on the cliff top at St. Aldhelm's Head. The bright light on the horizon is the Portland lighthouse.

Zooming the field of the video camera I was surprised to see Mercury also in the viewfinder. This image below shows it just to the bottom right. These images have not been digitally enhanced.

In this image I've used the Norman Chapel as a foreground object. I  took a series of photos with a 35mm camera and Ektachrome Elite. The following image has  been scanned from film.
Unfortunately, this one didn't scan very well, but it shows the Chapel illuminated by moonlight with Venus placed on the top of the cross.

By moving the position of the camera I've now got Venus and Jupiter straddling the Cross.


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