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Venus and Mercury now


kerrylewis

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The sky was clear to the horizon so set up the Heritage 130P with TeleVue 8-24 zoom and Baader Classic 2.25X barlow. Started with the Moon and viewed the various craters along the terminator. Next up Venus - almost full and then Mercury about 25% illumination. My EPs/Barlow gives a max mag of about 182x in the Heritage although best about 120x.

 

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I finally managed to find a western horizon without any low cloud banks tonight and got a quick look at Mercury and Venus before they dipped below the treeline at the end of the garden.

I'm pleased that I managed to see them but was a bit disappointed that I didn't manage to get a scope on them, only a pair of 8 X 40s.

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Got another look at Venus and Mercury tonight also. Didn't realise the Moon would be up, so a nice surprise when I opened the upstairs blinds. Scanned up Venus in the 10x50s at 18:50 and saw it naked eye at 18:52. Kept scanning for Mercury for a few mins, then checked for its position on Stellarium on my phone. Then scanned it with the binos at 19:04. Tried for Mercury with the naked eye, and finally was sure of its visibility by 19:15.

 

It was interesting to note the difference in horizon position and visibility in the twilight compared to last week. A bit further north along the horizon, and half an hour later for similar visibility, although Mercury seems fainter. The thin crescent Moon was a bonus, with nice earthshine seen at 19:30, after Venus had dipped below the roofline I was observing over.

 

The pics above capture the scene nicely. A nice start to a couple of hours scanning some winter favorites with the binocs and the Heritage. Who knows when the next clear night will be. And by Jove, 'tis nippy out!

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After a year and a half of observing I finally saw Mercury earlier this evening for the first time. For once there was no cloud on the western horizon but I still had to go to my loft to get a good view. I saw it using binoculars to begin with and then watched it naked eye after a while. I can't really say that the planet has been elusive as there is so much to see in the sky that hunting down Mercury hasn't been a priority. It was great to see it tonight though as it completes my set of solar system planets - thank you Professor Mike Brown of Caltech. I made the most of it by watching it for about an hour as it set behind a hill while the stars came out across the sky. As others have said together with the Moon and Venus it made a pretty sight.

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8 hours ago, David Levi said:

After a year and a half of observing I finally saw Mercury earlier this evening for the first time. For once there was no cloud on the western horizon but I still had to go to my loft to get a good view. I saw it using binoculars to begin with and then watched it naked eye after a while. I can't really say that the planet has been elusive as there is so much to see in the sky that hunting down Mercury hasn't been a priority. It was great to see it tonight though as it completes my set of solar system planets - thank you Professor Mike Brown of Caltech. I made the most of it by watching it for about an hour as it set behind a hill while the stars came out across the sky. As others have said together with the Moon and Venus it made a pretty sight.

Congratulations of capturing the last of the planets.

Next challenge ... well, there are five dwarf planets .... :icon_biggrin:

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My 5 year old saw me looking out the window and then excitedly announced “I see something”. Took me a second to catch up. “That’s Venus” I told him. He responded with “There are no stars out yet”. I was very pleased that he knew the distinction between stars and planets in the sky. He then went off to tell his mother that he’d seen Venus. I caught both Venus and Mercury in the bins after that. Lovely Moon again too

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2 hours ago, Moonshane said:

First time I have seen Mercury through a scope

Me too. After seeing Mercury for the first time ever last night from my loft I took the telescope tonight to a dark sky site with low horizons and saw it through a telescope for the first time. At 125x magnification it appeared as a less than half-Mercury crescent.

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