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You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – 🐾BillinGlendaleCA – The Great Conjunction

On The Road – 🐾BillinGlendaleCA – The Great Conjunction

by WaterGirl|  December 30, 20205:00 am| 25 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

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On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions. From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

This series was created by Alain Chamot (1971-2020).

Submit Your Photos

🐾BillinGlendaleCA

Last week Jupiter and Saturn appeared in our sky as close as they had in the last 400 years. Conjunctions happen all the time with the Moon, planets, and stars; but what makes this conjunction interesting is Saturn and Jupiter are particularly bright objects. My plan had been to shoot this from one of the hills northeast of downtown LA, using the city as a backdrop. Due to parking and access issues this was a bit of a problem to shoot.

I decided(quite at the last minute) to do a test shot the night before the actual conjunction at Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu. The one thing I leaned from this, is that shooting from atop a hill probably wouldn’t be the best place to capture this. So I ended up shooting from the Broadway bridge over the LA River. The only concerns with this location was parking and whether the planets would be sufficiently above the buildings in downtown LA.

On The Road -  🐾BillinGlendaleCA - The Great Conjunction 6
Leo Carrillo State Beach, Malibu, CADecember 20, 2020

Saturn and Jupiter in the southwestern sky just after sunset.

On The Road -  🐾BillinGlendaleCA - The Great Conjunction 5
Leo Carrillo State Beach, Malibu, CADecember 20, 2020

The two planets appear just above the lifeguard station.

On The Road -  🐾BillinGlendaleCA - The Great Conjunction 4
Leo Carrillo State Beach, Malibu, CADecember 20, 2020

Saturn and Jupiter continue their journey towards the west and into the Pacific.

On The Road -  🐾BillinGlendaleCA - The Great Conjunction 3
Leo Carrillo State Beach, Malibu, CADecember 20, 2020

Looking east, away from the conjunction, with Orion rising over the lights of Los Angeles.

On The Road -  🐾BillinGlendaleCA - The Great Conjunction 2
Los Angeles, CADecember 21, 2020

Saturn and Jupiter over the business district of downtown LA at twilight.

On The Road -  🐾BillinGlendaleCA - The Great Conjunction 1
Los Angeles, CADecember 21, 2020

The conjunction over downtown LA.

On The Road -  🐾BillinGlendaleCA - The Great Conjunction
Los Angeles, CADecember 21, 2020

Landscape shot of the conjunction over downtown LA.

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Reader Interactions

25Comments

  1. 1.

    Van Buren

    December 30, 2020 at 5:20 am

    I’d say the first one is the single best photo of the conjunction I have seen anywhere.
    The ones over LA ain’t bad, either.

  2. 2.

    MomSense

    December 30, 2020 at 7:10 am

    😍😍😍😍

  3. 3.

    raven

    December 30, 2020 at 7:19 am

    Nice, on the best night I couldn’t get the damn timer to work on my camera so I got nuttin!

  4. 4.

    Elizabelle

    December 30, 2020 at 7:40 am

    All excellent pics, but I really love the series at the beach the best. Many photos are improved by adding a lifeguard station.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    December 30, 2020 at 7:41 am

    @raven:   I just saw it with my eyes, and a neighbor’s telescope, the very first night.  It was cool to know about it, though.

  6. 6.

    arrieve

    December 30, 2020 at 9:20 am

    Beautiful pictures. I didn’t get to see it, so I appreciate the beautiful images. And yes, a lifeguard station is always a welcome touch!

  7. 7.

    JPL

    December 30, 2020 at 9:32 am

    All the pictures are great.

  8. 8.

    TaMara (HFG)

    December 30, 2020 at 9:42 am

    Great stuff.  Love the downtown skyline.

  9. 9.

    mrmoshpotato

    December 30, 2020 at 9:59 am

    🎶What’s your great function?🎶

    Great pictures.  Thanks for sharing, Bill.

  10. 10.

    stinger

    December 30, 2020 at 10:10 am

    I was hoping Bill would take and share conjunction photos! Agree with Van Buren about the top image, too — the best I’ve seen.

  11. 11.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    December 30, 2020 at 11:19 am

    @Van Buren: Thanks, in hindsight I should have taken a set of shots down on the sand early on.

    @MomSense: Thanks.

    @raven: Self timer?  I use an app on my phone for shutter release.

  12. 12.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    December 30, 2020 at 11:35 am

    @Elizabelle: Especially lifeguard station #3, I’ve used it for a number of shots.

    @arrieve: I know quite a few folk here couldn’t see it due to weather.  The nice thing about the beach is that I could move around to frame the shot since the lifeguard station was close.

    @JPL: Thanks.

  13. 13.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    December 30, 2020 at 11:40 am

    @TaMara (HFG): The nice thing about photographing the conjunction is that you really don’t need to worry about light pollution, so a city skyline shot is possible.

    @mrmoshpotato:

    🎶What’s your great function?🎶

    There is no function, as an Australian astronomer says “Life is meaningless and we’re all going to die”.

    @stinger: Thanks.

  14. 14.

    CaseyL

    December 30, 2020 at 11:42 am

    The first shot of the conjunction is my favorite, too – but I’m also very taken with “Orion Rising Over L.A.”  I like the framing that minimizes the city and maximizes the sky/shore.

    I have binoculars suitable for planet-gazing.  What I do not have, however, are steady hands.  I didn’t realize this until I looked through the binocs and saw The Disco Dance of the Celestial Bodies.  Any tremor, however insignificant most of the time, gets magnified umpetty times when peering through eyepieces.  Looks like I may have to get a telescope with tripod if I want to stargaze.

  15. 15.

    BigJimSlade

    December 30, 2020 at 12:05 pm

    Nice shots! 👍

    The song I was thinking of was from schoolhouse rock – Conjunction junction, what’s your function? Hooking up clauses and phrases and I forget the words…

    I loved seeing Saturn through a smallish (ie, portable) telescope at the visitor’s center on Mauna Kea (at 9,200 feet). It was only, like, a millimeter or two across, but it was so recognizable. It was great to see something with my own eyes that I had only seen pictures of before. A couple of its moons were bright, little dots nearby, too.

  16. 16.

    Richard

    December 30, 2020 at 3:18 pm

    Very nice. It was cloudy here that night but we looked at them the night before. Beautiful photos.

  17. 17.

    Richard

    December 30, 2020 at 3:23 pm

    @CaseyL: i liked the Orion photo also.

  18. 18.

    Richard

    December 30, 2020 at 3:26 pm

    @BigJimSlade: nice comment. I’m afraid to go find that song but i am smiling.

  19. 19.

    SteverinoCT

    December 30, 2020 at 3:51 pm

    @CaseyL: I have 12×50 binoculars, but the Navy standard is 7×50. The first number is the magnification: as the number goes higher, it’s like having a longer and longer telescope. Experience has shown that a 7-power is the strongest that can be held steady, considering that a ship is a moving platform.

    My 12x50s gave me the Dance Of The Stars as well.

  20. 20.

    Kayla Rudbek

    December 30, 2020 at 4:44 pm

    @CaseyL: even with a tripod, you need a steady support/surface for the tripod to rest on. Our deck is not stable enough for our telescope and tripod mount.

  21. 21.

    CaseyL

    December 30, 2020 at 5:34 pm

    @SteverinoCT: Yeah, my Tascos are 12 x 60 : (

    @Kayla Rudbek:  My deck might be steady enough. Won’t know til I try!

  22. 22.

    pat

    December 30, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    You didn’t even crop any of those pictures?  I was hoping to see the planets and not two tiny pinpricks of light.

  23. 23.

    Richard

    December 30, 2020 at 6:16 pm

    @pat: well, you are going to have to use your imagination again.

    When  i was a kid i saw Jupiter and 4 moons with a cheap telescope.

    What is happening in your galaxy?

  24. 24.

    ballerat

    December 31, 2020 at 1:51 am

    That’s good. Really good.

    Also, I like your picts. Please keep posting them.

  25. 25.

    ballerat

    December 31, 2020 at 1:56 am

    Life guard station like an LEM on an oddly familiar moonscape. Skyglow below and Jupiter and Saturn above. Where am I really?

    Your picture posts are like an online art gallery.

    Thank you.

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