3 Planets, 2 Galaxies, 1 Comet

From the photographer: “In the evening of 18th March, we finally got clear skies for comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. So, my friend Selçuk and I decided to go to Marmara Sea coast with open western and northwestern horizon. The location I chose was a hilltop at Kapanca, overlooking Marmara Sea, near Tirilye; a 50-km drive from Bursa.

Soon after sunset, first Jupiter and then Mercury showed up in the west. As it got darker, more and more stars appeared, and so did Pons-Brooks, with help of binoculars. When it got dark enough, and also just before Mercury was about to disappear, I photographed this view of the western sky. Jupiter is still shining bright in Aries, while Mercury is in Pisces. A third planet, Uranus, is also in view, shining a few degrees away from Jupiter. But it needs a pointer, as the ice giant looks just like an extra 6th magnitude star in Aries. The two brightest and largest galaxies north of celestial equator, M31 in Andromeda and M33 in Triangulum can be picked near Pons-Brooks. The alternate image with annotations should help locate Pons-Brooks, Uranus and the galaxies.”