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Mercury in the evenings


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The next few days are a perfect opportunity to see Mercury particularly if you find it elusive normally. It will be not far from Venus which, of course is much brighter and easier to see. Use your favourite planetarium software to see the  relationship between the two planets on any given day and you are sure to spot Mercury if you gave a clear view to the west. Good luck! 

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1 minute ago, JOC said:

I went out around 2130 last night - hadn't found time earlier and there wasn't any planet up there above the horizon :-(

Missed by a mile ;) 

It sets around 7.25pm, sunset is around 6pm so best time probably between 6 and 6.30pm currently

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14 minutes ago, JOC said:

Yeah, that's what I figured!  Early evenings are busy here and yesterday wasn't helped by the car going bang!

Tricky isn't it! Life gets in the way!

I need to go for a walk up into the Heath when it is next clear to get a decent horizon rather than dodging up and down the garden trying to catch them in a gap between houses!

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23 minutes ago, Stu said:

a decent horizon 

My West Horizon isn't at all bad - it is possibly a more light polluted direction, but the actual view low down isn't at all bad (verging on excellent).  I could even put the telescope up on the balcony and avoid our front hedge, but often that isn't necessary.  I reckon I could see if I was out and setup at the right time.  This is west below:

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1 minute ago, JOC said:

My West Horizon isn't at all bad - it is possibly a more light polluted direction, but the actual view low down isn't at all bad (verging on excellent).  I could even put the telescope up on the balcony and avoid our front hedge, but often that isn't necessary.  I reckon I could see if I was out and setup at the right time.  This is west!

imageproxy.php?img=&key=bdf8b2134cef9d8bhttps://stargazerslounge.com/uploads/monthly_2018_01/5a6b38efac220_Viewwest.jpg[/img]

 

Sounds good, although I'm still having to imagine it, the link didn't work ;) 

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OK, conditions not looking good for here tonight and its my going out night, but the block around 6pm might be free.   I won't lug the big telescope out, but I've got the baby Vixen out.  I'm siting on 400mm F5 with it - where do you reckon I need to be magnification/EP wise to get a decent view of Mercury if it's there later?

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35 minutes ago, JOC said:

OK, conditions not looking good for here tonight and its my going out night, but the block around 6pm might be free.   I won't lug the big telescope out, but I've got the baby Vixen out.  I'm siting on 400mm F5 with it - where do you reckon I need to be magnification/EP wise to get a decent view of Mercury if it's there later?

I reckon the low power view with Venus in as well will actually be very nice, need around 4 degrees to fit them in, 5 or 6 to feel comfy. Down low, high power won't work that well.

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We saw them - there was a solid bank of cloud close to our fairly clear horizon, but they were both just above it.  I'm sure that we were on them both - def. more than points in the sky the brightest things up there and out before most/all other stars.  They looked like two planets to me.  Just out of the grasp of both in the 14mm Morpheus, but they came up nicely, and performed well with the 8mm BST.  Pleased to have read this thread and gone and had a look.

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2 hours ago, JOC said:

We saw them - there was a solid bank of cloud close to our fairly clear horizon, but they were both just above it.  I'm sure that we were on them both - def. more than points in the sky the brightest things up there and out before most/all other stars.  They looked like two planets to me.  Just out of the grasp of both in the 14mm Morpheus, but they came up nicely, and performed well with the 8mm BST.  Please to have read this thread and gone and had a look.

Nice one :) glad you got them.

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