Moon, Mars and Bright Star Spica Captivate Amateur Astronomer (Photo)

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Moon, Mars and Spica by Petricca
Astrophotographer Giuseppe Petricca captured the colorful conjuction of the moon, Mars and Spica in this image. (Image credit: Giuseppe Petricca)

When the moon, Mars and bright star Spica met up in a cosmic conjunction last month, one veteran night sky photographer had his camera ready.

Astrophotographer Giuseppe Petricca  captured this view of the moon, Mars and Spica together on July 5 while observing the night sky from Pisa, Italy.

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"A zoom on the colorful moon, Mars, Spica conjunction, in the middle of high layer clouds that were present all the time in the sky," Petricca wrote in an email to Space.com. Petricca used a Nikon P90 camera to take the image.

To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by Space.com readers, visit our astrophotography archive.

Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

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Nina Sen
Contributing Writer and Producer

Nina Sen is a freelance writer and producer who covered night sky photography and astronomy for Space.com. She began writing and producing content for Space.com in 2011 with a focus on story and image production, as well as amazing space photos captured by NASA telescopes and other missions. Her work also includes coverage of amazing images by astrophotographers that showcase the night sky's beauty.