Moon, Venus and Mercury Conjunction

What a wonderful site this morning. The thin crescent moon with earthshine, bright Venus to it's right, and elusive Mercury below. This is my southeast horizon from Pueblo West right out my front door. The steam you see rising just above the horizon is from the Comanche Generating Station 17 miles away.

Five Planets in the Morning Sky

Feb 4, 2016

I woke up about 5:30 a.m. to a windy, cold but clear morning. I quickly set up my camera on a tripod in front of my home, which thankfully blocked most of the cold wind. By 6:00 a.m. I could see Mercury to the lower left of brighter Venus, both near the brightening horizon. The moon, higher and to their right shown brilliantly. Saturn was a bit higher to the moon's right. A bit higher yet and next to the roof of the house sits Mars. On the other side of the peaked roof is blue Spica (not a planet) and to the far right next to the roof is giant Jupiter.

I had to shoot nine images side by side and with the format of the camera set vertical to grab all of the planets in this 90 degree field of view. I stitched all nine images using the free panoramic maker Image Composite Editor, by Mircosoft.