Last chance Jupiter (20 Sep 2019)

As the Earth leaves Jupiter behind, the largest planet in the solar system sets earlier and earlier. So, as the last Jovian image of this apparition, I caught Jupiter a full hour before sunset just before it hit my western treeline. This, of course, is the reason the background is so light and the picture has such low contrast. The moon visible is Europa just before it starts crossing the face of the planet.

Jupiter will come back into view over my eastern treeline an hour before sunrise late March next year, so this was the last chance to get a marginal picture this year. I will NOT be submitting this image to NASA’s JunoCam project.

Saturn sets about an hour and forty-five minutes after Jupiter so the Sun had set and the sky was darker for this image.