Venus and Mercury conjunction, 10th Jan

[Iainp]

I popped out to look for Venus and Mercury in conjunction around 4.30pm UK time today but couldn't see them.  They appeared very low in the SW around 4.50pm and I managed a couple of shots with my Nikon D60 and 500mm lens, handheld at 1/20th second (well, balancing the camera on a wall).  They are separated by a mere 39 arcminutes here, and will be very close for the next few nights then around 6 degrees apart by the 21st. I couldn't identify Mercury visually at all, though the icy winds didn't motivate me to look very hard I must admit!

[Davey-T]

Well caught Iain, I was hoping to catch them but just too much cloud here ATM, hoping it clears to have a go at Lovejoy.

Dave

[ghostdance]

Sadly, Venus & Mercury were in cloud-junction here.....

[Iainp]

I'll be having a go at Lovejoy too! I'm not set up for proper deep sky imaging so will just piggyback the 500mm lens + camera on the telescope set up and see what I can get.

Good luck! Skies are looking lovely at the moment and the BBC is promising a clear one, but I've been fooled before...

[David Smith]

Great pics Iain. I managed to see them in binoculars between the trees earlier.

[Pete Presland]

They made very nice viewing Saturday, albeit very brief and between the branches.