Littleguy80

Glad you saw them, Dave. That's the trouble with this dodgy British weather, you've got to make the most of it when the skies are clear.

Thanks Stu. I was up at 6am. I could see Mercury until a little after 7am so I’m sure that’ll be what you saw

Thanks Doug. I’m sure it was Mercury and not her breakfast that she was interested in 😉

After two previous mornings of waking up early to see nothing but cloud, it was third time lucky as I woke up to, mostly, clear skies. It was quite hazy but didn’t take me long to find Mars. The small but distinct orange disc was pleasing. I kept checking the horizon, waiting for the tiny planet to appear. As Mars faded behind a small patch of cloud, I spotted a bright point appearing above the trees. “There it is” I told the purring cat at my feet. She seemed pleased for me. Still too low for the telescope, so l passed a few minutes splitting Izar. The seeing was poor but the gold and blue pair kept me entertained. Mars returned to full brightness so l moved back to it. Even with the unsteady view, I thought there was a brightening at the top of the planet, possibly an ice cap. Nothing definitive. Mercury seemed to be rocketing up now. Turning the telescope onto Mercury, it was noticeable how much bigger the disc was compared to Mars. The poor seeing prevented any real detail showing through. I happily followed its rise up the dawn sky while the dog walkers eyed me suspiciously. The view settled enough for some nice views of a golden disc at lower powers. The cold and cloud suggested it was time to retreat indoors. A final look through the bay window was surprisingly good. The brightly little planet slowly faded behind the cloud. Monday mornings aren’t so bad.

Got up at 5am, waited an hour but was solid cloud. The crescent moon briefly lit up behind the cloud but that was as good as it got. Some you win, some you lose.

That’s exactly what I do with my TS Optics Herschel Wedge. The supplied filter is a stacked ND filter and continuum type filter in the same filter cell. I bought a Baader ND3 filter which I sometimes use instead of the supplied filter. I emailed TS Optics at the time who confirmed that the Narrowband filter is stacked with an ND3 filter. The only reason for doing this would be to lose the green colouration that the narrowband filter adds. Of course, you also loose the benefits of the narrowband filter too.

Thanks Gerry. I was thinking of starting with the APM 20mm and Hb and experimenting from there. I have the TV 25mm Plossl and then the ES82 30mm if I feel I need more exit pupil. I hadn’t considered the UHC so that’s a very helpful tip. I should have remembered that from the Flaming Star neb last winter. Which UHC filter do you use? I’ve only ever used Astronomik‘s in both 1.25” and 2”. I’ve not tried other brands so I can only say that it seems to work well when used with the right targets.

Excellent report, Gerry. I observed the little Dumbell through our clubs 12” dob. It had little “hooks” of nebulosity that appeared almost like spiral arms of a galaxy. I’d never seen that feature of M76 before. It was very neat. I’ve been thinking about having a go at the Cocoon this season. Do you have any experience with your 10”?

I gave them the exact time and location so hopefully the pilot knows. I said in my email that I hoped the Typhoon crew would enjoy it. As you say, we’ll never know, but nice to think that’s it may have raised a top gun smile

Thanks Mark. I’ll have to give them a try if it doesn’t make cut for Sky at Night.

Great sketch. I had a look at this earlier this week and this is a very good representation of how it appeared to me

I wanted to let you know that I followed your suggestion and emailed the RAF base the picture. They used it on their twitter feed

I emailed RAF Marham. It turns out the Typhoon is based at RAF Coningsby. They featured my photo on their twitter feed

Thanks Chris. Good to know it’s from Marham. My original plan had been to go to Seething but with the dodgy forecast, I decided to hit the road to try and find some clear skies. Looked like a good turn out at the obs.

Managed a couple more views before bed. I was really taken with the detail on the Moon. I’ve started to think of the Moon as a bit boring when it’s full but at lower powers it’s got lots to show. Just needed a shift of perspective to bring it to life!

Forecast is set to turn cloudy later on here so out for a quick look now. With the Equinox 80 and 40mm eyepiece, I can just get the Moon and Aldebaran into the same FOV. Very pretty. Thanks for the heads up

I just found out that it’s made the Sky at Night website https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/transit-mercury-11-november-2019-pictures/

No way! Thank you for letting me know. I exchanged some emails with them today and they said it may make the January edition if page space allows. Very chuffed to have it up on the site though

Yup. I believe it's from RAF Lakenheath. Best guess is a Typhoon (Eurofighter)

I may be pushing the limits of the theme with this image. I’m justifying it on the grounds that transits are themselves a demonstration of celestial motion. The Jet adds a sense of motion, although not celestial. Finally, I rarely have anything worth submitting to the imaging challenge so didn’t want to miss this opportunity Photo taken with a SkyWatcher Equinox 80, TS Optics Herschel Wedge, 9mm Baader Genuine Ortho and iPhone 8. A very lucky shot taken from my back garden. The image is the moment as I caught it. Only processing is adjustments to exposure and contrast levels using iOS’s inbuilt editor. I’ve included the video of the full Live Photo too. IMG_0318.mov

It’s the same old thing as yesterday I hope the song reference was intended or my response will make no sense 😂 Great capture!

A friend suggested sending it to Sky at Night magazine so I did that this evening. Fingers crossed

Sure is. I believe it’s one of the jets based at RAF Lakenheath. Typhoon Eurofighter as you suggested

Thank you for all the kind comments Here’s the full Live Photo. The image above is the moment I caught and not a time adjustment from the Live Photo. IMG_0318.mov

Thank you, Stu. The fact that it was a jet really made it for me too Yes, a Typhoon was my thought too.