Mercury, Mars and the Crescent Moon - Sunday 24th November 7am

[Stu]

When I checked out Magnus' heads up just now, I was reminded that Mercury is well placed currently in the morning, near maximum elongation from the Sun.

I also noticed that Mars and the 27 day old Moon are relatively close by, so might be worth having a look for these as dawn approaches. The Moon is 7.1% illuminated, Mercury mag -0.2 and Mars mag 1.7.

Might be worth a go on Monday morning too, the moon is even finer at 2.3%, and closer to Mercury.

[Davey-T]

Got up before dawn a couple of times to try to catch Mercury but been greeted by clouds.

Dave

[Pig]

One to look out for 😀

[mikeDnight]

At around 3.8 arc seconds and a phase of 98% Mars should be fun.  Its northern hemisphere is tilted toward us by nearly 20°, so with steady seeing, a sharp scope and keen eyesight, a north polar cap and the dark feature of Acidalia may possibly be detected. By comparison, Mercury is enormous at 7.7 seconds of arc. It's entirely possible to make out some albedo features on Mercury, so definitely worth taking a look and even making a sketch or image. 

Edited November 22, 2019 by mikeDnight

[Phillips6549]

Also in the same area of the sky,  Occultation of Cirrus by Nimbostratus.  🌧️

Edited November 25, 2019 by Phillips6549
Clarification

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Phillips6549 said:

Also in the same area of the sky,  Occultation of Cirrus by Nimbostratus.  🌧️

Sadly true

I wonder if anyone saw it? I certainly didn't, far too much cloud and rain around.

[Littleguy80]

Got up at 5am, waited an hour but was solid cloud. The crescent moon briefly lit up behind the cloud but that was as good as it got. Some you win, some you lose. 

[Pete Presland]

The weather has been grim lately again, my year has never looked so empty.