A Caravan of Planets

From the photographer: “By the end of July 2018 Mars reached a favorable opposition and it was coming into view as soon as evening twilight faded. Saturn, Jupiter and Venus were all well visible too. So we had 4 bright planets in view until Venus set. Mars at magnitude -2.8 (brightest since 2003), Saturn +0.2, Jupiter at -2.1 and Venus at -4.2. I photographed this wide panorama of the southern half of the sky on 10th August from near the town of Yenisarbademli in Isparta province. The horizon is defined by Dedegöl Mountains (part of Toros Mountain Range) in the Mediterranean region of Turkey and it is as high as 2998 meters. During a 3-day star party at this dark sky site we had the wonderful view of these four planets every evening.”