Slim Moon, Mercury and M45

[jgs001]

I've been trying to find Mercury, elusive little ball that it is, for ages. Last night was a superb night for it, with the thin crescent moon providing a lovely marker to it, in fact almost pointing the way. Having found the moon, I tried to spot Mercury without aids, but no chance, still too late, so grabbing the 10x50 Lidl's, and pointing them at the moon, placing the moon at the top of the FOV, Mercury sprang out of the evening sky at the halfway point. A wonderful and amazing sight. I dashed indoors, and my two boys, not being asleep yet, were both dragged into the eldest room, opening the window wide, and pointed where to look with the 10x50's. They both thought it was really cool. A little later, I got to see M45 just above the moon with the bins too. The cloud moved in soon after, typical. I managed to get a few shots, and these have been posted up here

Whilst I didn't get to achieve what I wanted to last night thanks to clouds, I got to see Mercury for the first time, so I've now seen all the planets inwards of Saturn and I'm really pleased with the sight I did see.

[ONSLOWE]

Glad to hear you got to view Mercury and the Moon it was a great sight. I had just about given up on the chance due to cloud cover but constant checking paid dividends and I managed a superb view of the slim crescent Moon and Mercury in the same 2.7 degree field of my 20x80 binoculars. I wa s lucky that my car was parked in the right place for me to steady the bins on the roof so got a stable view without a tripod. The versitility of Binoculars really comes into its own when there are only brief breaks in the cloud. If I had to get out a scope, tripod, eyepieces etc the moment would have been lost or the scope not cooled down etc. Often the clearest skies near me are when there is a gap in the rain clouds (think the rain captures some of the pollution in the atmosphere) so a grab & go set up is ideal.

Regards,

Martin

[Talitha]

That's great John, I bet the boys told all their friends about it Btw, you shouldn't have any problem catching Neptune and Uranus with the 10x50's. Got them both a few years ago with 7x35's, no problem.

[argonaut]

Good capture on Mercury. We have had a turn in the weather here,so I missed the opportunity at the weekend.

Glen.

[jgs001]

Thanks all.

Nice one Martin.

Hmm... Interesting Carol, just need to work out how to tell them apart from the background stars .

That's a shame Glen

[argonaut]

I did try again last night. Just my luck. I checked my Stellarium and then went out during a brief clear spell to check out a new pair of eyepieces.

Just like in Stellarium,there is a huge tree in the way:(

Well,the eyepieces checked out OK though:)

Glen.

[asteria]

Hi John - nice work there - good to see you captured all three using your binos. All the best. Ed

[jgs001]

I've got a couple of those as well Glenn, in almost exactly the same position. How did the developer know ... ?

Thanks Ed.

[ron.s.g]

Already cutting the tree down in my garden, it always seems to be in the line of setting up my meade.

ron.s.g

[jgs001]

If I could get away with it I could put in an obsy, I'm allowed one now, but with the tree there, there's no point

[argonaut]

I can't see any trees in my new piece of software I got today

Starmap Pro for ipod touch,it looks impressive after a quick look at it.

Glen.

[jgs001]

I shall have a look at that one Glen. I've got the IYA Starwalk app on my ipod and that's pretty good.

[argonaut]

There is a 15 minute video on the starmap website. STUNNING is the word to use for this app.

Telescope control and other upgrades are in the offing. Exciting stuff.

Glen.

[argonaut]

Just in case,here's the link http//:Untitled Document

Glen.

[jgs001]

Cheers Glen, I had a quick nose last night, but didn't have time to spend on it.

[argonaut]

Music is a bit George Harrison

Still messing around with mine,nice.

Glen.