Planets align . . . well, almost

These photos are about 15 minutes old, 10 DEC 2006, 06:50 hrs (EST), East Berlin, PA (Southeastern azimuth). Well, 2 planets for sure . . . possible 3rd planet image on the middle photo, but I'm not sure. The top 2 photos I took at 06:45 from my driveway. The last photo was taken about 06:35 from a farm lane about 1/2 mile from my residence. Initially, 06:20, I couldn't find the planets from my house (trees, some clouds, etc.) so I ventured to a more open space up the road. My camera batteries failed at the farm lane so I worked my way back to the house to replace them. Low and behold, from my driveway you could then see the planet display!

I saw 2 very bright planets easily without binoculars, I'm guessing Jupiter and Mars. It was about 18 degrees . . . too damn cold to keep binoculars or the camera steady long enough to examine them cloesly. I think the first photo I took at the farm lane shows a 3rd planet (Mercury) but I'm not sure. There were suppose to be 3 planets clustered close together - I saw 2 for sure with the naked eye. Since this would happen again until 2055 or so, and I doubt if I'll be in a good position to see it again at that time, I thought I'd brave the cold temps and make a go of it this morning. Pretty cool!