my homepage solar system page BBC News website my local society [Ewell AS] BAA homepage2006 June 5-11: Mercury an evening star in the NW recorded a couple of streets away from the pavement...Mars and Saturn trail in the west, Jupiter on meridian and full moon rising in SE all from my garden.
2005 June 27: Venus
and Mercury a whisker apart but Saturn too faint in dusk sky for digicam
shot.
2004 Dec 25/28: Mercury
easy naked-eye object beside Venus in a crystal clear Christmas Morn and
slow dance over three days.
2004 Dec 9: Nice earthshine crescent
moon in dawn sky with Venus and Jupiter in wide field via new Canon EOS
300D camera.
2004 Sept 21: Nice conjunction
of Venus and Saturn beneath Gemini's Castor and Pollux. Mercury seen
in bins Sept 5 just rising.
2004 Mar 22-29: All
the bright planets on view - Mercury joins the crescent Moon at dusk with
progressively Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter in east.
2004 Jan 24: Stunning conjunction
of Venus and crescent moon from my favoured site of Parker's Field - Worcester
Park.
2003 Dec 17: Venus and Mercury
in the dusk sky. Initial image posted here timed 16.40UT was erroneous.
2003 Sept 29: Mercury [and Jupiter not shown] seen and joined by early inward flights to Heathrow.
2003 Sept 25: Crescent moon just
22hrs from New plus Mercury and Jupiter. Moon not seen visually but
camera recorded it ok
2003 Sept 24: Crescent moon joins Mercury, Jupiter and Regulus in the dawn sky.
2003 Sept 21: Morning stars Mercury, Jupiter and Regulus in the eastern dawn sky via Minolta D7 camera on auto.
2002 June 1: Mercury, Saturn and Mars lost to view and approaching conjunction with the sun - only Venus and Jupiter remain in twilight.
2002 May 18: All the planet from Mercury, then Saturn and Mars seen in binoculars but unrecorded in bright twilight except Venus and Jupiter.
2002 May 14: Saturn and Mercury lost into twilight.
2002 May 6: All five planets seen/ recorded from Shadbolt Park [<1 mile from Parker's Field] for a different skyline.
2002 May 4: All five planets viewed from a 1st floor balcony facing WNW at Hook - Surrey in perfect conditions - no photos taken.
2002 May 1: All five planets seen in slight haze but only Venus + Mercury recorded #7. All the planets now at low altitude [except Jupiter] viewed for comparison from home with portable C8 - Mercury a bright crescent disk just past dichotomy, Venus a brilliant gibbous phase not much larger than Mercury, Mars a tiny red featureless disk, splendid and remote Saturn and Jupiter much as they've been all spring.
2002 April 30: All five planets seen/ recorded from Parker's Field under good transparency.
2002 April 28: All five planets seen/ recorded from Parker's Field under good transparency - Saturn and Mars now closing on Venus and Mercury.
2002 April 26: All five planets including Mercury seen from home for a family viewing under excellent transparency.
2002 April 25: All five planets seen from west Ewell for a family viewing - no pictures taken.
2002 April 24: Better clarity tonight with all five planets including Mercury clearly recorded from Parker's Field in a single exposure that needed no processing or enhancement. Two local residents join me for the viewing.
2002 April 23: Repeat images at dusk in very slight haze - Mercury rising higher in the sky towards Venus over 48hours. Four local residents join me for the viewing.
2002 April 21: Delightful dusk sky from Parker's Field - Worcester Park with all the naked eye planets - Mercury to Saturn recorded in a single frame. Mercury included in a telephoto insert for clarity. Four youngsters join me for the viewing. BBC News website version of the image below.
2002 April/May: A rare planetary alignment and conjunction of all the naked eye planets - Mercury to Saturn - occurs through April and May in the dusk sky with an occultation of Saturn by the Moon on April 16.
2001 Nov 10: Nearing the end of a rare long-lasting conjunction of Mercury and Venus that began at the end of October with the two planets remaining within a degree of each in the dawn sky. A gibbous and brilliant Venus [mag -3.9; 10"arc] was a convenient marker for Mercury [3 mags fainter] that changed from 7" arc crescent to 5" arc gibbous during this period and seen on many mornings in the ESE about 0600UT. In my many years of skywatching Mercury was never an easier object for the naked eye. Later on two mornings ~1100 UT during meridian passage images were captured in full sunlight - the autumn sun partially shielded by a willow tree. A Minolta D7 digital camera handheld at x7 zoom to the x150 eyepiece of a 30cm SCT.
1997 Dec 31: Moon and Venus captured with the Starlight Express single-shot colour CCD camera; posted on Compuserve Astro-forum.
text & images copyright - Maurice Gavin - 1997-2004visitors visitors 7754 11/6/6 reduced 14/11/04
