There was an interesting convergence of stars and planets Thursday evening, with Saturn and the Moon approaching the edges of the constellation Leo. Saturn was to the upper left of Leo and the Moon was to the lower right.

It was a tough night for astrophotography, as there was a great deal of sky glare from the recently set sun, and there was considerable haze. I got a couple of shots that are worth showing, however.

[Note: Click on the thumbnail to see a larger version.]

In the first picture, Saturn is the blue dot about a third of the way down the page from the top and a third of the way across from the left. It was more of a golden color to my eyes.

In the second picture, I’m shooting with a much wide angle and a longer exposure. Saturn appears more golden in this case. The star between Saturn and the moon is Regulus, and you can see most of the main stars of Leo.

Technical Notes: Both images were taken on my Nikon D200 with the Sigma 24mm-70mm f/2.8, tripod-mounted with a cable release.