Planets [28 Mar 04]
27-28 March 2004 was a noteworthy night. Four events all came together for me: five naked-eye planets visible, three simultaneous Jovian moon shadows, the weather cooperated (although the seeing wasn't too good), and my schedule allowed me to observe from shortly after sunset to past midnight! I set up my LXD55-8"SC just after sunset, did an Autostar one-star alignment, and began observing and taking photographs with my Nikon Coolpix 995 and remote release cable. All of the images are single frame shots; no stacking was done. Autostar tracking was near perfect throughout the 6+ hours I was out. During the night I listened to Holst "The Planets" on my Apple iPod mini while observing; seemed appropriate!
Mercury
Mercury on 27 March 2003 at 1sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom. Mercury was very low on the horizon hence the redness and blurriness. But I had to include it as one of the five planets.
Venus
Venus on 27 March 2003 at 1/60sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom.
Mars
Mars on 27 March 2003 at 1/60sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom. Seeing wasn't too good, so some blurriness occurred. And of course, Mars is fairly far away right now. But I still had to include it as one of the five planets.
Jupiter
Jupiter on 27 March 2003 at 1/2sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom. Seeing wasn't too good, so some blurriness occurred.
Jupiter on 27 March 2003 at 2115 PST taken at 1sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom. I combined a short exposure Jupiter photo with a longer exposure that captured the Jovian moons. Seeing wasn't too good, so some blurriness occurred.
Saturn
Saturn on 27 March 2003 at 1/2sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom. Seeing wasn't too good, so some blurriness occurred.

Jovian Moons Shadows [28 Mar 04]
The highlight of the night was the transit of shadows of three Jovian moons across the face of Jupiter. All of the images are single frame shots; no stacking was done.
Jupiter on 27 March 2003 at 2137 PST taken at 1/8sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom. Seeing still was not too good. The image at the right is from the Sky and Telescope Jupiter Moons page. It shows that Callisto's shadow is at the upper right and identifies the moons that are visible in the photo.
Jupiter on 27 March 2003 at 2304 PST taken at 1/8sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom. Seeing still was not too good. The image at the right is from the Sky and Telescope Jupiter Moons page. It shows that Callisto's shadow has moved leftward and that Io is nearing "contact" with Jupiter's limb.
Jupiter on 27 March 2003 at 2339 PST taken at 1/15sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom. Seeing still was not too good. The image at the right is from the Sky and Telescope Jupiter Moons page. It shows that Callisto's shadow has continued leftward and that Io's shadow has appeared on the right.
Jupiter on 27 March 2003 at 2350 PST taken at 1/15sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom. Seeing still was not too good. The image at the right is from the Sky and Telescope Jupiter Moons page. It shows that Callisto's shadow is nearing the left limb of Jupiter and that Io's shadow has moved leftward as well.
Jupiter on 28 March 2003 at 0012 PST taken at 1/15sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom plus some digital zoom. Seeing still was not too good. The image at the right is from the Sky and Telescope Jupiter Moons page. It shows that Callisto's shadow is the "notch" on left limb of Jupiter, Io's shadow has continued leftward, and that Ganymede's shadow has joined the parade on the right.
Jupiter on 28 March 2003 at 0017 PST taken at 1/15sec at ISO 400. 25mm eyepiece + 2X Barlow Lens. Full camera lens zoom. Seeing still was not too good. The image at the right is from the Sky and Telescope Jupiter Moons page. It shows that Callisto's shadow on left limb of Jupiter is almost gone, Io's shadow has continued leftward, and that Ganymede's shadow has moved leftward.