On the September new Moon weekend I took some beautiful images of Saturn at my Stardust Observatory with my Meade 10inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and Saturn’s rings are now back in view :-)
 
Saturn’s opposition for 2026 is in a couple of weeks time on the 4th October so now is the best time to view and capture Saturn while it’s the brightest and closest to our Earth.
 
How exciting to see Saturn’s beautiful rings back in view because this time last year the rings were nearly edge on and so thin that they nearly disappeared!
 
This only happens every 13 to 15 years and I was so lucky to capture the event in both September and November 2025. Please see my blog posts below:
 
Blog post for September 2025 where rings have nearly disappeared:
https://www.mystardustobservatory.com/astro-blog/-saturn-at-opposition-in-2025-with-its-moons-titan-and-rhea
 
Blog post where Saturn’s rings were at there thinnest:
https://www.mystardustobservatory.com/astro-blog/-saturns-rare-ring-plane-crossing-on-the-23rd-november-2025
 
When taking pictures of the planets, it’s best to wait until the planet is high up in the sky where the air is usually a lot steadier and even then it’s a bit hit and miss as the sky can look perfect but still the planet wobbles and jumps around because of aerosols high up in the atmosphere.
 
If you’re patient you may get a few minutes of steady sky to capture images, it really is a waiting game but well and truly worth it :-D
 
I also captured four of Saturn’s satellite moons by over exposure the planet with the largest moon Titan to the bottom and forming a triangle, the moons Dione, Rhea and Tethys to the right of the rings.
 
My images were taken with a 10inch LX200 Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and ZWO ASI120 Mc planetary camera with 3xbarlow attached. AVI files were captured with 3000 frames that were stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.
 
Please note: With the wide field image below of Saturn and its moons I replaced the overexposed image of Saturn with the correct exposed image taken just before this image was captured.

~ Saturn with its moons Titan, Dione, Rhea & Tethys ~
(At 10.54pm (AEST) 14th September 2026)

~ Conjunction of 3 day old crescent Moon with Venus in constellation of Virgo on the 14th September 2026 ~
 
I’m at my Stardust Observatory at Leyburn for the long weekend and this was the beautiful view just after sunset looking toward the western horizon.
 
You can see the 3-day-old crescent Moon is having a close conjunction with the planet Venus on the ecliptic; the star below the Moon is Spica (Alpha Virginis).
 
I’ve also zoomed in with the camera lens to get a closer view of the conjunction; images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and 18-400mm Tamron lens on a tripod.
 
I also took an image of Venus with the Meade 10inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a ZWO ASI120 MC camera plus 3x Barlow lens attached. Captured a 3000-frame video, which was stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in Photoshop…what a beautiful evening it was :-)

~ International Observe the Moon Night ~
19th September 2026
https://www.sas.org.au
 
Southern Astronomical Society is holding an event
Please scan the QR Code for more information

International Observe the Moon Night is an annual worldwide public engagement program that encourages observation, appreciation, and understanding of our Moon and its connection to NASA planetary science and exploration.
 
Everyone on Earth is invited to join the celebration by hosting or attending an event.
 
For more information about International Observe the Moon Night and how to get involved, visit go:
https://science.nasa.gov/moon/observe-the-moon-night/
 

There was a lovely close conjunction of Venus with the three day old waxing crescent Moon in the western sky on evening of the 16th August 2026.
 
While taking my images I watched as a plane approached and hoped it would go across the lunar surface, but it just passed by flashing its white and red lights.
​
I wonder if anybody was looking out there plane window and saw the beautiful sky view :-D
 
Images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 28-400mm lens, using ISO 200 and exposure time of 4 seconds.

What a beautiful sight it was after sunset this evening when the three planets of our Solar System aligned up together on the ecliptic in the western sky. Mercury is an elusive planet that keeps very close to the Sun, but you can see it quite clearly along with Jupiter then Venus.
 
Venus & Jupiter are at the moment in the constellation of Cancer with the pretty Beehive star cluster (M44) just below Venus.
 
Zooming in with my telephoto lens you can see this open star cluster clearly close to Venus in the night sky, it’s also known as Praesepe (Latin for ‘manger’ or crib).
 
There were a lot of people out working their dogs and I was able to show them this beautiful celestial show this evening :-D

The waxing crescent Moon is now above Venus in the evening sky with Jupiter below Venus, Mercury is lower down but cannot be seen because of thick cloud.
 
Hopefully it will clear in the next couple of days so I can get another shot of capturing Mercury with the other planets. It’s been really exciting watching the dance of the planets on the ecliptic the Moon joining them was an extra treat :-D
 
Images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 28-400mm lens on a tripod; both images were taken with an 8 second exposure and ISO 200.

Crescent Moon Joins Planets
 
Oh my, how pretty it was this evening with the crescent Moon joining Venus, Jupiter and Mercury for a stunning celestial display in the western sky. The beautiful pink and purple colours of the sky after sunset just added another special magic to this wonderful event  :- )
 
Images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 28-400mm lens on a tripod; exposure times were 8 seconds and ISO200.
 

​Oh how exciting! I didn’t have to drive up to Mt Tamborine to capture Mercury with Jupiter and Venus in the western sky, when I went outside this evening there it was above the roof tops just outside my front door…Woohoo :-D
 
Because of the light cloud in the sky you can also see a coloured corona around both Venus and Jupiter that looks quite pretty.

​The light causes the halos from the planets and even though Jupiter is the largest planet it’s Venus that looks the brightest because it’s a lot closer to us here on Earth.
 
My images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 18-400mm lens, the exposure time was 6 seconds and ISO 500.

​I really like the purple colour of the sky after sunset, every time I take these sorts twilight images the sky is always a different colour.

​It’s been very frustrating trying to catch this special close conjunction between Venus and Jupiter, I missed the night of closest approach on the 10th June because of rain and since then I’ve been trying to capture a picture of them together again…
 
Tonight you can see that Venus has now passed Jupiter on the ecliptic and is above Jupiter, there is also on show a pretty coloured corona around each planet with Jupiter showing a couple of its moons.
 
I only had a few minutes to take these images as that rolling cloud on the right completely took the planets again, but I got my pictures :-D
 
My images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 28-400mm lens on a tripod. I use the excellent free Stellarium App to help me identify with the night sky.

~ Venus & Jupiter with halo of light surrounding the planets on 12th June 2026 ~

I only just managed to capture Venus & Jupiter before the clouds came rolling in and it began to rain, as you can see the two planets are now getting closer for there conjunction together on the 10th June 2026. Both Venus & Jupiter are in the constellation of Gemini, Mercury is also in Gemini low on the horizon.
 
I’m really intrigued by the images on Spaceweather from people in the northern hemisphere, as the orientation of the planets on the ecliptic are seen differently then seen by me here in the southern hemisphere. It shows us that not everyone sees the same view of the night sky on planet Earth because of our longitude and latitude :-D
 
Image taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 28-400mm lens on a tripod, exposure time was 6 seconds and ISO500. Car headlights light up the tree in foreground; at this time of evening everyone is coming home from work.

Some of our images were linked on the front page of Spaceweasther.com including my image, to keep up with all the images being taken from around the world of this special event, please go to Spaceweather.com   https://spaceweather.com/
 
https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=09&month=06&year=2026
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