Regards,
Ian.
For anyone who has never seen Mercury in the early evening or early dawn as Mercury is not easy to see. But Mercury itself is brighter than the brightest star in our Sky which is Sirius. Mercury is always very low down in the Sky and much lower than Venus. Also you must be where Mercury in the at dusk or dawn as you must have an unobstructed view of the horizon where Mercury is at the time when it can be seem as Mercury is very very low down when it can be seen in the night Sky. I’ve only seen Mercury twice in my life and aged 71 in May.
This Month of April is a good month of seeing Mercury ithe conditions are ok as well as an unobstructed view of the Western Horizon.
This may be of more help to see Mercury thus April at Dusk!
earthsky.org/.../mercury-after-sunset-greatest-elongation-east This month of April will be the best Month in 2023 of seeing/observing Mercury at dusk in the evening in the Northern Hemisphere in 2023. An article explaining! This link has detailed maps of how to find Mercury in the night right now in April at dusk. But again you must have an unobstructed view and good weather conditions on the horizon, as if there is any haze on the horizon that can cause problems particularly in the area that I live and you may as well have to find a clear view of the western horizon as well. That is why in all of my 70 years I’ve only seen/observed Mercury twice in the whole of my lifetime at present.
A bit of post processing fun.
I took some photos of a brightly lit moon, yesterday evening. The sky was still bright. Photos came out brilliantly well on my Canon 80D and Sigma 150-600mm lens at full zoom.
Here's the moon, pretty much out of the camers.
I use FastStone for post processing. One effect I can play about with is something called Highlights. No idea what it is or what it does precisely. Anyway, middle value is zero, with a range of +/-100. No idea what it means. Just for fun, I tend to set values to their extremes.
I set it to -100 and got this. All sorts of different detail pops out.
90% luck, 5% field craft, 5% camera skills.
https://youtu.be/h_qUUgQhhuo How BBC TV managed to cover the lunar moon walk and complications of the first continues broadcast on UK TV from before midnight right through till after dawn in the UK the lunar moonwalk in July 1969. This interview looking back and of course with the possibility of the first lunar moonwalk within the next few years for the first time for more than 50 years on the Artemis lunar missions! Not forgetting that apart from the General election every 4+5 Years. Every night including weekend UK TV closed down at 11.00pm every night including weekends and only occasionally would UK TV channels broadcast during the daytime Monday-Friday except for the occasional big sporting events and every TV channel opening at 5.00pm every day with no regular daytime broadcasting Monday-Friday except for occasional big sports events where broadcast live. But TV channels were broadcast every Saturday and Sunday afternoon with regular sports programmes. Also the explanation of the how the lunar moonwalk was transmitted and broadcast worldwide. Complications arose overnight as there was a technical fault across the Atlantic Ocean which caused major technical problems. So the signal if the live broadcast through the night worldwide traveled a long way worldwide across our planet but the live broadcast went mainly without a bitch which was amazing if yo compare the technology from 1969 which was so basic in 1969 to the technology at the present time of which was is a million times with the technology at the present time in 2023...
https://youtu.be/-Ccm4zEef9o
https://youtu.be/JJPJitQL5Z0
https://youtube.com/@timeanddate
This short video shows where the central line of this rare type of solar Eclipse is called a Hybrid Solar Eclipse ans shows which part along the central line is total and which are Annular. Also as usual there are live free to air worldwide live online broadcast such as from NASA TV and Timr and Date websites as well as others on the 20th April 2023. The second link is an explanation what causes a Hybrid Solar Eclipse. The third link is from Time and Date showing the dates of the live broadcasts of 3 of the eclipses in 2023.
www.timeanddate.com/.../shadows.html www.nationalgeographic.com/.../watch-total-solar-eclipse-sun-sights-space-science https://youtu.be/oNH3akWXaV8 First Link;Shadow Science. Types of Shadows Solar Eclipse! Umbra, Penumbra And Antumbra. Why Are There 3 Shadows Second Link; Amazing Sights You Can Only See During A Total Solar Eclipse! Not Just Looking Up At The Total Solar Eclipse! Third Link; The Physics Behind A Total Solar Eclipse!
With the Total(Hybrid) due to be broadcast on the 20th April 2023. I thought I would show 3 different links explaining about Total Solar Eclipses. Also I should say that the 2026 Total Solar Eclipse in part of Europe, sadly not in the UK(only partial) will be the last Total Solar Eclipse in Europe for many years. So for anyone that want’s to see a Total Solar Eclipse, 2026 is your best chance Anyone wanting to seet the 2026 Total Solar Eclipse plan now. As after 2026 you will have to travel beyond Europe if you wish to see a Total Solar Eclipse in person!
Wasn't sure of an appropriate place to post these photos, other than it being a celestial event. I noticed Venus shining brightly, as I was shutting curtains at about 8:50pm, last night. I thought I'd have a crack at photographing it. This is what I managed with my Canon 80D and Sigma 150-600mm contemporary, resting on bedroom window sill and lens hood jammed against glass.
Cropping out
Even with camera clamped quite firmly with my hand, there was still a tiny, miniscule amount of movement of the whole contraption.
The sky wasn't entirely black, when I took the photos. It was slightly lit by a lingering sunset, even though it was 8:50pm.
This is what I get holding my camera i.e. not resting on anything. Hardly surprising as the exposure was between 1/13 and 1/15.