Lunar Eclipse, August 2026

When is the moon full and also half (or some other fraction)? 

During a lunar eclipse!

I always hope to capture some images of the moon moving through the earth's shadow.  In this case, I caught a glimpse of deep penumbra (image #1, note the moon's lower left) before a thunderstorm blocked the view. By the time the storm cleared, the eclipse was nearly midway, deep in the umbra (images #2 & 3). I watched for a while as clouds came and went, as the the curve of the earth's shadow moved across the moon's face (images #4 & 5). I took a final shot as the earth's shadow created a moon shape that is impossible in the moon's monthly phases (image #6).

 These images were taken with a Canon R8 through a AT60ED and 1x flattener. 

Venus, Jupiter, Luna (June 2026)

This last week, rising Venus passed Jupiter in the evening sky while the moon passed through the same field.  On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, at 2:27 p.m., in broad daylight through the space between clouds, I watched the unlit side of the moon pass in front of, blocking, the half-lit crescent Venus. It's a very cool thing to see one celestial sphere pass in front of another!  I missed Venus's emerging from the lit side of the waxing crescent moon at 3:36, but I saw it just a few minutes after.  Of course, the moon and Venus appeared to be the same shape because they were both lit by the sun and were the same angle from the sun from my view!

I did snap a few pictures this week.  All were taken with the Canon R8, the wider field with the 35mm f/1.8 STM and the narrow moon and Venus pics through the AT60ED with the 1x flattener.

This is the moon approaching Venus the night before. Venus is the bright one, and Jupiter is between it and the moon.  The two bright stars to the right of Jupiter are Pollux and Castor.

These are the moon just after the conjunction. This is pretty much how the pair looked through binoculars.

 

 

 

Gathering of Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury, June 7, 2026

Here is the view to the west after sunset on June 7, 2026, from the mountains of Tennessee north of Knoxville.  The brightest light in the heavens is Venus. To Venus's left is Jupiter.  The bright stars to the right of Venus belong to Gemini. To the lower right, between the cloud banks, spot Mercury.  This is just a phone shot with a Pixel 9 Pro.

Minima of Algol

 

Algol is in the lower left; it is the right corner of the isosceles triangle.  It should be about as bright as Mirfak, Alpha Persei, the brightest start in the frame, on the right.  Instead, it's barely brighter than the left corner of the triangle, Gorgonea Tertia.  This is Algol at its minimum, at 8:38 EST, 2-21-26, or 2:38 UT, 2-22-26. The image is a phone pic, and the gradient to the west was pretty bad, made worse by the 23% Luna just to the southwest of the frame.

Mercury Luna Conjunction, Feb. 18, 2026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caught this from the airport in Gainesville, Florida, with a Pixel 9XL Pro.

Jupiter, 2/6/2026 (close to midnight CST)

 

 This is the best of the night, 1250/5k with the QHYiii485C through the CFF 290 at f/20.25. I'm a dabbler in planetary thus far.

 

And here is Jupiter with Europa, best 2.5k/5k. 

Luna (Jan. 28, 2026)

Luna was 81% illuminated on the evening of Jan. 28, 2026, when I took first light with my Canon R8 through the TS 102 SD f/11. This is literally the third image taken with the camera.