Venus and Mercury

[Froeng]

...just came in after a very short but fruitful observing session. I took my little Vixen 60l on a photo tripod out of the garden and sat it up a quick walk away on a lawn in the nearby park. I saw Venus in a bright and beautiful crescent shape and , ... (!) for the first time in my life.... Mercury! Saw it naked eye just S/W of Venus and then as a tiny disk in the Vixen. The whole expedition only lasted 20mins as Mercury was then disappearing behind the trees. Well worth it though! The 60l is an f/15 Fraunhofer, I used 26mm Plössl and 15mm LV eyepieces.

Venus and Mercury have a close conjunction tomorrow night. Highly recommended!

CS Frank

Edited May 20, 2020 by Froeng

[Stu]

Nice one! Saw them both here too, probably my first view of Mercury through a scope excluding solar transits. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

[miguel87]

Yep my first ever mercury too! My sky is NOT looking good tomorrow so glad I caught them both tonight.

[Nakedgun]

Viewed Mercury/Venus Sunday night with 10x50s and 82mm spotter, Mercury ~10° below Venus, Mercury becoming visible naked-eye near 2000hrs.

Monday night clouded out.

Tuesday night Mercury was ~5° below Venus.

Will go out a half-hour from now to look. 

Skies are clear now (Wednesday) and should be (Thursday) for the conjunction, as well.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Nakedgun

[Nakedgun]

55 minutes ago, Nakedgun said:

Viewed Mercury/Venus Sunday night with 10x50s and 82mm spotter, Mercury ~10° below Venus, Mercury becoming visible naked-eye near 2000hrs.

Monday night clouded out.

Tuesday night Mercury was ~5° below Venus.

Will go out a half-hour from now to look. 

Skies are clear now (Wednesday) and should be (Thursday) for the conjunction, as well.

 

With a 20x wide angle ep on the spotter, I was just able to fit both planets into the same field, this evening. 

[maw lod qan]

Paced myself so I could stat up past my regular work bedtime.

Venus doesn't appear till around 8pm with our crazy DST!

It is amazing it can still be so brilliant with such a little crescent showing through the telescope.

Viewed Mercury also though it sank rapidly beneath trees to my East.

That makes five planets in roughly twelve hours I viewed, not counting the Earth.

 

[Neil H]

Hi guys as I work nights I see it but not with my scope ,so when is the next time we can see this 

[Stu]

27 minutes ago, Neil H said:

Hi guys as I work nights I see it but not with my scope ,so when is the next time we can see this 

Tonight and tomorrow night they are close, around 1.5 degrees or less. 

[Neil H]

Thanks but by the time I get home I can't see it any more , so when is it next in the sky ?

Edited May 21, 2020 by Neil H

[Stu]

Just now, Neil H said:

Thank but by the time I get home I can't see it any more , so when is it next in the sky ?

Not being funny, but with the inner planets they are always going to be early evening or early morning objects. Are you always on shifts, or will it change in future?

[Davey-T]

5 minutes ago, Neil H said:

Thanks but by the time I get home I can't see it any more , so when is it next in the sky ?

It will pop up in the dawn sky later in the year.

Dave

[Neil H]

Hi STU I am always on nights at weekends I see Venus for about an hour , but I do get up about 3am to catch the planets in the morning , but in 2025 /2026 the planets are up in the evening so would that be a better time to catch mercury

[Neil H]

Just now, Davey-T said:

It will pop up in the dawn sky later in the year.

Dave

Thanks Dave that may be a good time , I can really only star gaze at weekends it's a pain 

[Stu]

Maximum morning elongation for Mercury is on 23rd July 2020 and for Venus it is 13th August 2020, so if you get up well before sunrise then you should see them.

[maw lod qan]

1 hour ago, Neil H said:

Hi STU I am always on nights at weekends I see Venus for about an hour , but I do get up about 3am to catch the planets in the morning , but in 2025 /2026 the planets are up in the evening so would that be a better time to catch mercury

I understand working and how schedules can put a kink on other things. Lately I've got to the point that when its something, let's call it unusual, I put in for time off. 

Believe me, Walmart gives you time off but only when it doesn't affect them and their operation. 

I've pulled my "sorry, I'm not missing this" twice in the past four years.

I hope im around in 2025/2026, but who knows?

I hope you get to view this if you can.

[miguel87]

17 hours ago, Neil H said:

but in 2025 /2026 the planets are up in the evening so would that be a better time to catch mercury

The position of the other planets is irrelevant to mercury. Every year is the same for mercury so 2025 will be no better.

Basically mercury does what it does over 88 days, then it repeats that over and over.

Mercury is never more than 28 degrees from the sun so you will never see it in a dark sky. It will always be up for less than an hour before sunrise or after sunset.

[Neil H]

Ok guys thank you 

17 hours ago, maw lod qan said:

I understand working and how schedules can put a kink on other things. Lately I've got to the point that when its something, let's call it unusual, I put in for time off. 

Believe me, Walmart gives you time off but only when it doesn't affect them and their operation. 

I've pulled my "sorry, I'm not missing this" twice in the past four years.

I hope im around in 2025/2026, but who knows?

I hope you get to view this if you can.

I hope you will still be around , I don't think I will see Halleys comet this time I will be 100