As you probably know, Jupiter has been a prominent part of our evening sky over the past few months, reaching opposition — opposite the Sun in the sky and consequently at its brightest — October 28. The planet still dazzles at magnitude –2.7 as it floats among the stars of Pisces.
Don Parker of Coral Gables, Florida, has for years been the reigning champion of photographing planets. Just as Aaron Rodgers is playing quarterback on another level, so are Don’s pictures of planets just better than the rest. (Can you tell I’m going to Lambeau Field this weekend?)
Don took this amazing RGB picture of Jupiter at 0h50m53s UT on November 28, 2011, with his 14-inch Celestron SCT with 2x Powermate, a DMK 21AU 618.AS CCD camera, and a series of Astrodon filters.