Moon and Jupiter

The problem with my old Fujifilm F500EXR is that it is only a compact camera. No doubt it has a lot of features but unfortunately, I cannot get it to focus till infinity. As a result, whenever I try to focus the camera directly on the moon, it always comes out bleary and out of focus.

Last night was very typical of my effort to photograph the moon. Every time I pointed the camera skywards and pressed the shutter button halfway to focus, I couldn't get a sharp image. Perhaps I've been setting the features wrongly and if so, I'll appreciate anyone giving me pointers to correct myself, short of asking me to invest in a DSLR.

Anyhow, this was just about the best shot that I could capture with the camera at about 8.30 p.m. last night. It had been raining a few nights before but last night was clear. For most parts of my brief stay outside the house, the sky was clear and the moon bright.

I couldn't help noticing a bright spark of light a short distance away from the moon. Unblinking in the night sky, it could only be a planet instead of a star. Venus was out of the question as it would only be visible in the early morning at this time of the year. Mars was also out of the question because I know that it looks red. I can't see planets like Saturn because my eyes are not that keen anymore. So this bright light can only be Jupiter. And yes, when I checked various websites later, they told me that Jupiter was the most prominent point of light in the sky now, and it would be seen quite close to the crescent moon.

So here it is, a picture of our moon with that tiny prick of light from Jupiter. Too bad I couldn't include any earth-bound landmark in the picture and too bad too if the moon appeared a wee bit too much over-exposed or slightly out of focus. But that's me and my F500EXR.