Black Swan Observatory: Widefield Gallery - Sydney Harbour May 14, 2011

harbour City Awakens to Rising Planets

Star Trails: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury & Venus Conjunction - May 14, 2011

As fortune would have it, I found myself back in Sydney, Australia in May 2011 coincident with this planetary conjunction. A visit to the Sydney Observatory the day before was enough to conjure up the idea of trying to capture Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Venus rising behind the Sydney Opera House, and thus was the inspiration to head down to the harbour in the wee hours of the following morning.

About this Image

If you looked to the east just before sunrise on May 14th, 2011, you would have seen a spectacular sight rarely seen ... a planetary conjunction of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Venus gathered together in the morning sky. The 4 planets were visible to the naked eye, like sparkling jewels in the early morning sky, a fitting accompaniment to the Sydney Opera House in the foreground (hover your mouse over the following image to see the 4 planets labeled).

Image & Equipment Details
Date:	May 14, 2011 approximately 04:00 to 06:00 local time
Location:	Sydney, NSW, Australia
Sky Conditions:	Clear to cloudy, temperature 12° C
Optics:	AF Nikkor 28-85 mm 1:3.5-4.5 lens, shot at 28mm
Mount:	Tripod
Camera:	Nikon D300s
Filters:	None
Exposure:	150+ exposures, ISO-200, 15s shutter priority
Processing:	Photoshop CS5, Startrails

Watch the image capture sequence in the following YouTube video. You'll notice inner harbour ferries Fishburn (named after the storeship Fishburn which was part of the First Fleet that departed England on May 13th, 1787 almost 224 years before), and Sirius (named after the HMS Sirius, the flagship of the 1787 First Fleet) end the sequence as the harbour springs to life at sunrise, ferries start departing Circular Quay at 06:00.