Jupiter, Moons, and Bees

Rising before the Sun on September 4, Jupiter and an old cresent Moon gathered in the dim constellation of Cancer . Watching from a hillside near Austin, Texas, planet Earth , astrophotographer Russell Croman recorded this view of their passing as clouds gracefully dimmed the brilliant moonlight. Earthshine illuminates the lunar night side and on close inspection , bright Jupiter at the lower right appears tightly flanked by its own four large Galilean moons . Next to Jupiter lies a loose swarm of stars just below the clouds. The stars are the brighter members of the nearby star cluster M44, popularly known as the Beehive cluster . Croman's remarkable digital image has been processed only slightly to improve the visibility of the earthshine region and Jupiter's moons .