Venus and Mercury now

[kerrylewis]

The beautiful slender crescent of Venus now low in the west with Mercury a few degrees to the east 

[John]

Yep - just managed to catch the pair with my 11x70 binoculars in between the scudding clouds along the W horizon. Venus slim crescent very easy with the binoculars. Thanks for the call up Kerry

[The Admiral]

Most grateful for the heads up, Kerry. My first ever Mercury  (not that I've looked for it particularly before). I could only see one object from the upstairs window, and thought it was probably Venus but couldn't be sure. I eventually spotted a second object to the left of the first, peeping between the branches of a tree! Mercury. It's so seldom that the sky is so clear down to above the distant houses. . I used my 66mm spotting scope to find it; Venus was a lovely slim crescent.

Ian

[kerrylewis]

Glad to help! Mercury can be very elusive but if something like Venus or the Moon is pointing the way it can be very much easier to spot. 

[Pete Presland]

DOH! Completely forgot Mercury was close by so preoccupied with the thin Venus!

[laudropb]

Managed to catch both in between the clouds. My first view of Mercury, other than the transit, for quite a few years.

[kerrylewis]

Heads up - if clear where you are this evening, Mercury will again be east of the brighter Venus but slightly higher 

[The Admiral]

3 hours ago, kerrylewis said:

Heads up - if clear where you are this evening, Mercury will again be east of the brighter Venus but slightly higher 

If only Kerry. Surely we're only allowed one good sky per month . I've seen better forecasts than the one for tonight.

Ian

[Cosmic Geoff]

Saw Venus in daylight at around 17.30 pm - a very thin crescent. Also Mercury clearly seen around 17.53pm.

Both in 127mm Mak, 25mm eyepiece.

Found with GoTo,  Solar Align.

It will be interesting to see if Venus can be followed right through the conjunction which I believe is on the 25th.

[John]

1 hour ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Saw Venus in daylight at around 17.30 pm - a very thin crescent. Also Mercury clearly seen around 17.53pm.

Both in 127mm Mak, 25mm eyepiece.

Found with GoTo,  Solar Align.

It will be interesting to see if Venus can be followed right through the conjunction which I believe is on the 25th.

I caught it tonight with my 11x70 binoculars. Mercury was behind a cloud bank though. I could see the phase clearly with the binocs and a small DV camera when zoomed in by around 50x.