The best planetary convergence of May 2009 occurred this morning, with the Moon, Venus and Mars forming a triangle in the eastern, pre-dawn sky. Being in the eastern sky, there was considerable light pollution coming from Austin and Round Rock. I didn’t feel like driving to the other side of Williamson County at 5am, so I just worked with it as best I could.

Mars is in the lowest part of the images, many times only visible as a small dot. It was actually a bit more visible to the naked eye, with a clear reddish tint.

Note: Click on the thumbnail of each image to see a larger version. Mars is much more visible in the larger versions.

Technical Notes: All pictures were taken on my Nikon D200 with the Sigma 50-500mm lens, tripod mounted with a cable release.