The Inferior Planets plus deeper stuff

[John]

I don't know if the term "Inferior Planets" is used much these days

Anyway, it refers to Venus and Mercury. Mars, Jupiter Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are the "Superior Planets" (but don't tell them that !)

I don't know if it will be clear tonight and tomorrow so I made the most of last nights clear evening to observe Venus and Mercury in conjunction. I think they get closer together today and tomorrow ?.

 

I snapped a few photos with my mobile at the eyepiece of my 100mm refractor. Mercury is just 6 arc seconds in apparent diameter though so hard to get with such a basic method.

 

Later on I got the 12 inch dobsonian out for a nice deep sky session which included a nice line of 4 galaxies on the outskirts of Virgo (not far from Messier 5 in fact) with NGC 5846 and 5850 the brighter of the line, a handful of globular clusters (M5 included) and some nice planetary nebulae including the Cats Eye in Draco and the Blinking Planetary NGC 6826 in Cygnus, which does not blink much with a 12 inch scope !

Nice central stars visible in those two. Tried for the central star in M57 but it was no-go last night. The nebula looked quite impressive at 500x though !

 

Anyway, here are the snaps of the Venus / Mercury pairing. Many better ones will be posted but these are my "souvenirs" of yesterday evening

 

[Waddensky]

Wow, these are mobile phone pictures? Incredible, thanks for sharing! Exciting that you were able to get the phase of Mercury this way. Do you have a smartphone holder or something to keep your mobile in the right spot?

I observed the pair too yesterday. Venus is of course lovely, but it's always a delight to spot Mercury those few times a year when it's possible.

[bingevader]

Nice one John!

What are you using to mount the phone?

I've just received a Celestron NexYZ, but have not yet had the chance to give it a go.

[John]

Thanks folks. I use a very cheap bracket to mount my old mobile phone to the eyepiece. There are much better ones (and phones !) available but I'm a cheapskate when it comes to astro snapping (can't really call what I do imaging)

[JG777]

Ah but imaging starts with a bracket, then a camera, new mount, and thousands of ££££s later....

[John]

41 minutes ago, JG777 said:

Ah but imaging starts with a bracket, then a camera, new mount, and thousands of ££££s later....

Not here I think

[Stu]

Nice shots John. Had some lovely views here, phase visible quite clearly on Mercury despite plenty of atmospheric CA. Hope tonight is clear!

[kerrylewis]

Love these reports and pics. I have to be content with binocular views of this event. I can get telescope views of that part of the sky but it either involves setting the mount up in the middle of the road or on a fairly small area of flat roof - both of which involve a certain amount of risk! 
I have previously manhandled the scope and mount up to the flat roof. This involves negotiating a loft ladder and a rather small window. Understandably I tend to reserve this for really special events - a comet perhaps.
Even then the sleeping members of the household complain about my ‘hobnail boots’ and even claim to hear the whirring of the mount. I refute this but I am half deaf.

So, keep your telescopic reports coming chaps 😀

[Barry-W-Fenner]

Great read John, and fantastic pics!

It is great to hear so many got to enjoy these two planets.  I didn't get to see much of Mercury. I ran upstairs to the back window and could see it with the naked eye but the little 76p only made it out as a tiny spec. Still amazing though and very tiny!

I still dont understand the term about the inner 3 planets being "Inferior Planets" It just sounds insulting to me 🙂 

I am also hoping to view some globes and return to the Cats Eye next time out, Along with hopefully finding the Blinking planetary.

Baz

[John]

It think it is just Mercury and Venus that were given that term. It seems to go back a long way but it looks as if the usage is dying out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferior_and_superior_planets

 

[Barry-W-Fenner]

7 minutes ago, John said:

It think it is just Mercury and Venus that were given that term. It seems to go back a long way but it looks as if the usage is dying out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferior_and_superior_planets

 

Ah yeah my mistake, Not sure why I put Mars down as inferior. I did actually know it was just Mercury & Venus! I will now have a read as to why they are inferior.

 

Thanks for the link John

 

Baz