Rare Events 2020

First image of Jupiter and Saturn together as they approach conjunction. This is only using the Canon SL2 with my 300mm lens.
All 4 moons are visible around Jupiter, although Io and Europa appear together as the dot closest to the planet. Titan and Rhea are visible to the lower left of Saturn.

Jupiter & Saturn are now within reach of the C8 with less than a week until conjunction. When I started imaging 7 years ago, they were nearly opposite to each other in the sky!

Io is close to Jupiter while Ganymede is farther out. Europa's shadow can be seen near the center of Jupiter's disk. Since Saturn is almost twice as far from the Sun as Jupiter, it appears much dimmer. Its shadow can be seen on the rings to the upper left.

The first night I could capture Jupiter and Saturn in the same field of view using a dedicated planetary camera. All four of Jupiter's largest moons happen to be ordered by their distance from the planet. From right to left: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

This image shows a great example of the inverse-square law in play. While taking this photo, Jupiter was 5.1 AU from the Sun while Saturn was 10 AU. Saturn receives a quarter of the solar energy that Jupiter does, making it appear much dimmer than its inner neighbor. Our eyes can handle the difference well when looking at them through an eyepiece of a telescope, but the difference is more stark with a camera.

While the two gas giants are close together in the sky, they are physically far apart, only appearing next to each other because they and Earth are aligned in a nearly straight line. When taking this photo, Jupiter was 884 million kilometers away while Saturn was 1.8x farther at 1618 million kilometers.

Jupiter and Saturn continue to converge in the night sky and are now in reach of the C14. The sky was very clear, but seeing was very turbulent to the point of Jupiter twinkling slightly.

While the two gas giants are close together in the sky, they are physically far apart, only appearing next to each other because they and Earth are aligned in a nearly straight line. When taking this photo, Jupiter was 885 million kilometers away while Saturn was 1.8x farther at 1619 million kilometers.

Jupiter and Saturn continue to converge in the night sky and are now in reach of the C14. The sky was very clear, but seeing was very turbulent to the point of Jupiter twinkling slightly.

While the two gas giants are close together in the sky, they are physically far apart, only appearing next to each other because they and Earth are aligned in a nearly straight line. When taking this photo, Jupiter was 885 million kilometers away while Saturn was 1.8x farther at 1619 million kilometers.

I did not expect to catch Jupiter & Saturn on their night of closest approach, but the sky was just clear enough to catch an image. Seeing was much better than the night before, but the clouds canceled out the steadier air. The view was completely blocked shortly after taking this image.