Gracing Gemini

Image Critiques
1

Original - _DSC1073_JupiterVenusMercuryGemini_NPN.jpg
Original - _DSC1073_JupiterVenusMercuryGemini_NPN.jpg1500×1000 786 KB

Without Constellation Lines

With Constellation Lines
With Constellation Lines1500×1000 842 KB

With Constellation Lines

Critique Style: Standard

The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.

Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive

About This Image

This was the western sky on June 9th of 2026 when Jupiter came its closest to Venus. Mercury was along for the ride as well sitting in between the Twins of Gemini, Pollux and Castor. We have such an amazing opportunity in our modern age to explore the night sky with the camera equipment we have now. While Jupiter and Venus were clearly visible to my eyes that evening, Mercury was so faint. And the stars Pollux and Castor were visible as well, but one had to really look hard. The camera on the other hand, well give it 10 seconds and a sturdy tripod and it will reveal so much more than can ever be imagined. I added the second image with the constellation line of Gemini, circled the three planets and labeled them as well as labeling the named stars that I could identify.

Pollux and Castor are the head stars in Gemini, with Castor being just a bit brighter than Pollux. Wasat and Mekbuda are in the Pollux twin, while Mebsuta is in the Castor twin. The remaining four stars in Gemini were either below the horizon at 9:38 PM when I took this or were to deep in the twilight glow to be picked up.

Gomeisa is the second star in Canis Minor. The Alpha star, Procyon was out of the frame

The Beehive Star cluster in Cancer is in the ULC, as well as Asellus Australis, the southern main body star of Cancer.

Feedback Requested

Any feedback or thoughts are appreciated.

Technical Details

Without Constellation Lines
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 50 mm f/1.8
Focal length: 50mm
Shutter speed: 10s
Aperture: f/4
ISO: 800

With Constellation Lines
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 50 mm f/1.8
Focal length: 50mm
Shutter speed: 10s
Aperture: f/4
ISO: 800

Processing software: ACR and PS
Major adjustments: Adjusted exposure and contrast, Clarity and Dehaze in ACR. No major edits in PS other than adding the constellation lines.
Blending/stacking: None
Other notes: Sometimes the photos come out of the camera ready to go, almost.

2

Lovely capture!! Wonderful gradient in the sky and I love the diffraction spikes!!

I tried to get Venus and Jupiter together but didn’t get anything worth keeping. I was also hoping to get Jupiter’s moons with my longest lens. I did, but it wasn’t worth keeping. I’ll go for it in February or March when it is high in the midnight sky, in opposition, and with tracking – with the regular camera and longest lens. And also Saturn in November or December. The frustrating thing is the moons move so fast they will be in very different places different nights (or from hour to hour) so it may take several tries to get a pleasing configuration.

3

Very nice and I like the constellation lines and annotation for those like me that are deficient in astronomy skills. The image is very crisp and the gradient in color adds a lot to the comp. Looks pretty good as presented…Jim

4

This is very cool. As a kid growing up in the East Coast, I spent a lot of time doing something astronomy related. I remember I built a bunch of telescopes, and I was really into comets. I had a Rich Field telescope that had a short focal length, but a wide aperture. This was for comment hunting. But I couldn’t afford a Clock drive, and that made it hard to find the comets :comet: when I went to college, I thought about majoring an astrophysics until I realized how difficult it was. Things worked out a lot differently than I thought.

Your image brings back many memories of all the sky watching I tried to do from an urban area outside of Washington DC so the lines would come in really handy for me right now and probably back then.

This is a creative image. Nice work.