Lucky Shot Venus Jupiter Conjunction

Lucky shot through clouds

BIG BRAIN PROJECT'S LUCKY CONJUNCTION SHOT

THIS IS A LUCKY SHOT showing the current Venus-Jupiter-Aldebaran Conjunction as the objects popped into view through openings in cloud cover.

Astro Image Details

The astro image was obtained at 4:23:12 am on Thursday July 12th 2012 with the Canon Powershot S95 eye at ISO 1,600 and a setting of f/2. The 1/2 second exposure recorded this pre-sunrise view of Taipei 101 with clouds illuminated by the city lights and a number of stars.

Processing
Processing is with Apple iPhoto 11 v9.2.1 running on the Big Brain's Right Brain with activated 724 processors. This is a screen shot from the original 2736 x 3648 5.2 MB JPEG image. (processing to reduce file size, increase contrast to 100, adjust white balance AWB, sharpen 95, adjust highlights 100, set shadows 9, increase definition 100, verify temperature 21, adjust exposure to 0.79, set saturation to 56 and de-noise at 33.

Celestial Objects

Venus is the lower brightest object. Venus is said to appear as a small crescent shape in a telescope at its current distance of 44 million miles. Jupiter is seen above Venus - the gas giant is currently 530 million miles away. Note the star just to the immediate right of Venus. This is Aldebaran in the Hyades Star Cluster, located in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Click on the photo for a larger image showing more stars in this early morning view.

Sky Chart
The star map is only approximate as the locations of Venus and Jupiter have changed. Note the small star cluster towards the top known as the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters.