Astro Vistas in Paris

Last season our french astronomer Eric was at home again, and despite the dreadful weather conditions that characterized the local summertime this year, he succeeded to witness the close conjunction between the Moon and Saturn on August 31st (2014): actually it was the first clear night in weeks !

On the above picture you can distinguish the tiny spot of Saturn topping the Moon border, and also planet Mars much farther at lower left, half way to the Eiffel Tower.

The large view above, taken some two hours later, still shows Saturn (click to enlarge) at upper right of the Moon. Many tourists were taking snapshots of the nice vista, but very few could guess that they got a planet as well...

Photo: Eric Escalera / Observatorio del Pangue