Venus and Mercury
with the AR152 Refractor
January 18th, 2014
Its not often you can shoot two planets in broad daylight with the Sun nearing the zenith, with the planets on both sides of the Sun. Both were 10 degrees on each side of the nearly noon Sun and while seeing was not its best, I was able to get a few good shots of both. Venus is a very thin crescent at this time being so close to the conjunction. Mercury however is on the far side of the Sun and also emerging from conjunction but as a very small round disk with no details. Both images here are at the same scale for comparison. This set was shot with our Explore Scientific AR152 refractor (six inch) mounted on the side of the 12 inch.
Venus: Mercury: Instrument: 6" f/6.5 with 3x Barlow Platform: Astrophysics AP1200 CCD Camera: Image Source DMK 51AU03.AS Filter: Baader Continuum + IR/UV blocker Exposure: 1/30 sec 12fps Location: Payson, Arizona Elevation: 5150 ft. Sky: Seeing 2/5, Transparency 7/10 Outside Temperature: 55F