Planets Venus and Jupiter before sunrise. The planet may appear as though it is just another star in the sky, but will show characteristics, such as color and size, that distinguish it from the others. Unlike deep-sky astrophotography, you do not need a telescope or a tracking equatorial mount to capture beautiful images.Īt a short focal length (300mm or below), you can take a picture of one of the five visible planets in the sky quite easily. This article focuses on capturing the 5 visible planets of our solar system as they are the easiest to find and photograph using basic camera equipment.

The planets Venus and Mercury at dawn using a DSLR camera and lens on a tripod.īecause the major bodies in the solar system orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane of the ecliptic, the position of each planet is predictable and you can plan for photographic opportunities in the future.Ī suitable telescope that’s mounted to an equatorial mount is capable of high magnification, detailed views of the larger planets, and even the very distant gas planets such as Uranus and Neptune. You do not need an astronomical telescope to find and photograph the five visible planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn).

There are a few ways to photograph planets with your camera, but the easiest and most straightforward is using a DSLR, a wide-angle lens, and a tripod. You can shoot wide-angle shots with a DSLR camera and lens where the planet appears as a bright star, or high magnification views using a dedicated astronomy camera that reveals surface detail. Planets like Jupiter and Mars are quite bright, you just need to know where and when to look for them. Photographing the five visible planets with your camera is not as difficult as you may think.

Telescope control with stellarium