On the evening of January 3, 2011, Jupiter and Uranus were just about 1/2-degree apart. I was able to capture both planets and eight of their moons in one field of view. However, to avoid overexposure of the brighter objects, I used 3 sets of exposures to compose this image--short exposures for Jupiter, medium exposures for Jupiter's moons and Uranus, and long exposures for the dim moons of Uranus.

Roll over the image to see an enlargement of Uranus and its moons.

The lower picture shows the planets and moons all at the same exposure--15-seconds, which greatly overexposes Jupiter, its moons, and Uranus.

This is the last of 3 close encounters between these two planets until Jupiter makes one revolution around the Sun and catches up with Uranus again about 13 years from now.

Image details: 20 1/500-second exposures of Jupiter, 9 1/10-second exposures of its moons and Uranus, and 20 13-second exposures of the moons of Uranus, all at ISO 1600, taken with a Canon 400D camera through a Meade 12” telescope at f/6.8. 

January 3, 2011