Remarkable Jupiter – 2006

Jupiter was bright enough to find easily, but not easy to hold still. I attached my Canon T3i to a Dobsonian telescope with a 1200 mm focal length and guided the telescope by hand, repeatedly nudging Jupiter back toward the center of the frame as Earth’s rotation carried it away.

A hand-guided planet

At this focal length, even a small movement sends Jupiter drifting quickly across the view. The process was a simple cycle of patience: center the planet, capture it, gently move the telescope, and begin again. These images are small reminders of that tedious effort—and of how much detail a bright planet can reveal through a backyard telescope.

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