I witnessed the planetary trio of Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter on Saturday and Sunday mornings. It was fairly cloudy on Saturday morning despite forecasts of clear skies. I decided to take a chance anyway and drove to the top of a hill with an excellent view of the eastern horizon. The clouds began to dissipate and, after finally spotting Mercury naked-eye in the east-southeast, I observed all three planets through a 8x42 Celestron binocular. I then set up my 80mm f/5 Orion ST80 refractor. The trio easily fit into the field of view produced by an old 26mm Tele Vue Ploessl. I tried to get a prime focus shot with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel DSLR and the ST80 but after a series of miscues the sky was growing too bright and my fingers too numb from the cold to continue so I called it quits.

On Sunday, I observed the event from a closer vantage point. It was very clear and the trio and Beta Scorpii (Graffias) were easily visible through the 8x42s. Since I had overslept a bit, I didn't have the time to bring the ST80 and set it up so I settled for some shots with a Canon ED-S zoom lens set at 200mm.

This is the only one that clearly showed the three planets and Beta Scorpii (Graffias). Mercury is to the left, Mars to the right, Jupiter to the lower left, and Graffias to the upper left of Mercury. I also took a photo of Saturn (lower left) and the nearby Moon.

Dave Mitsky

Attached Images

	Planetary Trio Best 2916 Cropped Smallest 200mm 2006-12-10.jpg (39.5 KB, 45 views)
	Moon & Saturn Cropped Small 2926 2006-12-10.jpg (42.0 KB, 32 views)

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Great image Dave!! our horizon was not low enough and the rising sun became too bright. So I missed them.
Thanks for sharing

Phil

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Well done Dave.