Mercury

[cosmic dave]

Has anyone ever tried to observe Mercury from the beach ? I going to try next week, I have never seen the planet before so I am looking forward to giving it a go. Any tips ? I thought using Saturn and Venus as pointers would help.

[Rhye]

You don't say how you will be making the observation- and Mercury is woefully underwhelming- but I believe Mercury will put in an appearance shortly before sunrise between a rather so-so Saturn and the ever resplendent Venus a bit before Dawn, low and to the East. It would be a nice pic to get the trio if you can manage it.

[cosmic dave]

A naked eye observation from the prom (East Coast) I was going to try and take a pic.

[PeterW]

I have always found it easier with the moon nearby, helps to get your eyes focussed right and gives you something to look for. I have found mercury pretty easy to locate, even in the early evening this way.

PEterW

[Talitha]

I never tried locating Mercury naked-eye, only with the 11x70 binoculars... let us know how things go, ok?

One thing you might want to try is to use binoculars to locate it first, and then try without them. I've used this method when searching for a very thin Crescent Moon, and it's amazing how easy it is to see a faint target naked-eye after you've already located it with optical aid. Good luck!

[cosmic dave]

Thanks. Now all I need is a clear morning !!

[yeti monster]

Mmmm, could be worth getting up early tomorrow...........

[brianb]

I never tried locating Mercury naked-eye, only with the 11x70 binoculars

Mercury gets pretty obvious when it's well placed. It isn't often well placed but the second week of October is about as good as it gets (for northern observers).

In the evenings, Mercury can be picked up with binoculars from about 30 mins after sunset, if you know where to look. Naked eye visibility takes a few minutes more & is usually best 40 - 45 mins after sunset. So in the mornings start about 50 mins before local sunset time. Naturally it looks just like a star, so it's helpful if there are no bright stars or planets in the same area, as these can be confusing. Saturn is an impediment in this case. By the second week of October, Mercury will however be considerably brighter than Saturn, and Saturn does have a bit of "size" about it in good binoculars - Mercury will be a point of light, and (at low altitude) will even twinkle like a star. Mercury is also (apparently) further from the Sun than Saturn until about Oct 9th.

The Moon will be an excellent "pointer" on Oct 16 but Mercury will be closing in on the Sun again by then.

[661-pete]

I was once lucky enough to get a precise 'fix' on Mercury at the exact moment of, what I suppose must be called 'Mercury-set'. I got it timed to within a second or two. It turned out, it wasn't the true setting of the planet, but the point at which it disappeared behind some low hills on the horizon: I was cross-checking with CdC and figured that the hills are about 4-5° above the true horizon.

You may need binoculars to help locate Mercury but once you have it, it should be possible to pick out naked-eye. It is actually quite bright (brighter than Sirius at its brightest) and LP isn't usually a problem, but you do need exceptionally clear skies close to the horizon.

Good luck! Some people never get to see Mercury at all in their lives, but a beach should be a reasonably good location. I have seen the planet, perhaps ten or a dozen times or so, in my life. The best occasion was a 'five-planet' night a few years ago, when all the five major planets were visible in the sky simultaneously. Not this time, I think!

[yeti monster]

Today, so far, we have clear skies. If this is the case this evening I shall position myself looking west around and after sunset. we do tend to have a rather hazy horizon, but I'm hoping the effects of typhoon Parma will keep the suns heat from generating said haze. I'll borrow the binos from the control room and if it looks likely, I'll see if I can catch a twinkle with my camera too (over optimistic? Me? never.....)

[yeti monster]

In the evenings, Mercury can be picked up with binoculars from about 30 mins after sunset, if you know where to look. Naked eye visibility takes a few minutes more & is usually best 40 - 45 mins after sunset. So in the mornings start about 50 mins before local sunset time. Naturally it looks just like a star, so it's helpful if there are no bright stars or planets in the same area, as these can be confusing.

.

Sorry, but is this has me confused now, earlier posts suggeted the early mornings are best, then later that evenings will be best. I'm hoping for a clear sky this evening, and can't get stellarium to downlowd due to the great firewall of china. Could someone check out viewing for Hong Kong (nearest landfall) for me please?

[brianb]

So in the mornings start about 50 mins before local sunset time

My bad I meant sunrise

[yeti monster]

Ok, I plan to get up early to catch the ISS tomorrow (05:00 ish), so Hopefully, with a clear sky toward the east, I may finally get to see Mercury.

[George Jones]

Has anyone ever tried to observe Mercury from the beach ?

I live a fifteen minute walk from the ocean (Bay of Fundy). In late November, 2006, I saw Mercury naked eye from close to the beach. I took bins, but I found Mercury before I got them out.

I never tried locating Mercury naked-eye, only with the 11x70 binoculars... let us know how things go, ok?

One thing you might want to try is to use binoculars to locate it first, and then try without them.

Mercury gets pretty obvious when it's well placed. It isn't often well placed but the second week of October is about as good as it gets (for northern observers).

... Mercury can be picked up with binoculars

You may need binoculars to help locate Mercury but once you have it, it should be possible to pick out naked-eye. It is actually quite bright (brighter than Sirius at its brightest) and LP isn't usually a problem, but you do need exceptionally clear skies close to the horizon.

Good luck! Some people never get to see Mercury at all in their lives, but a beach should be a reasonably good location. I have seen the planet, perhaps ten or a dozen times or so, in my life. The best occasion was a 'five-planet' night a few years ago, when all the five major planets were visible in the sky simultaneously. Not this time, I think!

Bins can definitely help.

I had a good view (from the centre of Saint John, New Brunswick) of Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury in early January, 2009, and, again, bins weren't needed. I saw them from an overpass (five minute walk from my place) that spans a divided highway and some railroad tracks which run through an east-west corridor. Looked something like

[yeti monster]

No Mercury or Saturn due to the cloudy horizon. I did have a gander at mars though, through the binos, but it was rather windy on't 'elideck.

[special_farces]

... and Saturn and Venus and Mars and the Moon.

Went out this morning at 6.30 and had excellent views of all the above. Saturn was the only one not obvious to the naked eye being right next Mercury. Took a 80mm spotting scope and the Saturn Mercury conjunction was excellent, both very close together. Mercury looked just like a bright star but I could see the disk of Saturn. No rings though. Venus was also a small disk but the shape was hard to make out, as it was very bright in the 'scope.

Looking forward to mornings of 13th and 16th - just need to remember to check the camera battery is charged. Hmmmm.

On seeing Mercury in general, I've had mixed results, in both evenings and mornings. Sometimes it's very very easy and other times I've stared at the spot it should be in, and nothing!

I think the best times of year (for higher latitudes), providing Mercury is making an appearance, is Spring and Autumn. Mercury tends to be higher in the sky and twilight is a lot shorter than Summer.

By the way - location is NW Leeds, UK.

[Talitha]

Hi and welcome to SGL, special_farces.

I've had quite different views of Mercury too, just as you have.. sometimes it's quite easy, other times not. The only reason i could think of was that maybe a very slight haze was dimming the brightness of the planet a bit?

TBH i'm not too much of a 'planet person', though.. does anyone know if Mercury's phases could possibly cause the variations in the brightness we see, or is our atmosphere more likely to be the cause?

[RT65CB-SWL]

I took a photo a few years ago of a conjunction of Mercury and Venus with a Nokia 6170 from the apron at LHR. Surprise, surprise it worked.

[special_farces]

Interesting question about the phases of Mercury. I've always thought problems with visibility were more down to atmospheric conditions and the angle of the ecliptic. Sometimes even at maximum elongation it just does not get very high. Any one else?