Planets Over Winter Wonderland

From the photographer: “In the last weekend of November, I drove to Uludağ NP near Bursa, because I wanted to catch Mars in a dark sky, shining nearly at its brightest in 2022.

In warmer seasons, I normally drive all the way to Fatin Peak in Uludağ, at the altitude of 2035 meters. I wondered if I could still drive up there in November. So, I tried going up road anyway. Above 1900 meters, there was at least 40 cm of fresh snow and it was not possible to drive any further. So, I left the car on the road and I walked the rest of the way to the peak.

This view shows how it looks near the peak, at around 2000 meters. The winter constellations are rising in the east, with Mars looking like a bright fire; while Jupiter shines even brighter, high in the southwest, and Saturn closer to the southwestern horizon. Even though the sky does not look dark because of all the white around, some hint of zodiacal band along the ecliptic and gegenschein just below Pleiades can still be spotted. Two more planets, ice giants Uranus and Neptune are also in view. The slider on the image can be used to locate them.”