A Planetary Conjunction
With the weather forecast fair for the morning but descending rapidly as the first major Atlantic systems of the autumn funnel into Scotland I took the opportunity of a day off work to head down to the beach early and photograph the close conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and Mars in the pre-dawn sky.
After taking a few photos and noting that the morning traffic was already picking up I headed down to the quieter end of the beach near Footdee and the Marine Control Centre. The Shetland ferry was pulling into the harbour as I arrived and I was able to take a few photos of the planets over the breakwater. A few minutes later I noted that pale Mercury had also risen just above the hillside opposite.
I now went in search of some additional compositions, taking a few shots of the planets above the marine control centre and then watching as a supply ship glided slowly between the breakwaters
Finally I headed back around to the beach and the car and took a few more photos as the sky started to gild with approaching sunrise. I wasn't keen to get stuck in traffic and it seemed like clouds were drifting in from the south so I packed up and headed off half an hour before sunrise.
