4 planets and 7 moons in one session

[Pondus]

14.May  22.45 cet . 59°N

Beautiful night, no clouds, no wind and of course an incredible bright full moon. 

I checked Stellarium before I went outside and noticed that there might be a chance of spotting Mercury low above the horizon WNW.

Observing four planets in one session would be a first for me and something I certainly wouldnt miss.

Mercury :   I could not see it naked eye, but I finally found it with the RACI. It was a twinkling colorchanging little point in the sky. Could not make out                        any phase. I still feels good having spotted it in a telescope. A first for me.

Jupiter   : Started observing immediately after I spotted it naked eye. Very good seeing for maybe 15-20 minutes. Observed it with up to  ~240x                             magnification. Great contrast against the light blue background. Never had a view of the planet this good. North equatorial belt had                               lots of structure. No idea if it was ‘festoons’ or barge, but the belt revealed a lot of detail. Unfortunately the seeing got much worse to soon.

Mars     :  Bright yellow, far from the peachcolored planet I`ve experienced earlier. Polar cap visible, but again It had this ‘glare’ around the planet.                         Some structure, but not even close to the views I had late April.

Saturn :   Cant disappoint, not even that close to a full moon. Cassinidivision and the marblestructure on the planet itself was observed. 2 visible                          moons : Titan and probably Rhea? Too bad the planet doesnt get higher than 15 degrees above the horizon up here.

Lunar  :   Of course not a good time observing it. Looked very nice in the 9x50 RACI though.

4 planets and 7 moons in one session. A great session considering full moon and the bright northern sky.

Rune

[Sandraj]

Nice....I haven't seen Mercury yet, good for you.

[SteveB72]

Likewise I have yet to see Mercury, thanks for your report.

[bob-c]

very nice report pondus,i was looking last night.saturn was good but mars was low on detail.

bob.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report. Moonlight nights are not as bad as all that when sufficient other members of the solar family are visible