May 20, 2020: nice view of Venus and Mercury

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Just spotted Venus and Mercury through binoculars. First I used the big Helios LightQuest 16x80 bins, in which Venus clearly showed up as a beautiful thin crescent. Just a bit lower and further northward Mercury could be spotted as a tiny crescent. I then got out the Nikon Monarch 7 10x42 bins, and could readily capture both in one field of view, although Mercury was no longer resolved. Rare glimpse of a planet not often seen easily.

[BinocularSky]

Similar experience here. Got both in 16x70 just before the Sun set, but couldn't see Mercury in 6.5x32 then, 20 mins later, both in same field in the little ones.