mercury take 2

mercury, is difficult to observe and image.  since it's so close to the sun, it is usually only seen low in the horizon just before or after sunset.  visually, mercury looks like a tiny orange half moon.  the reddening results from atmospheric diffraction, due to its low position in the sky. 
more info at prior blog on mecury

in my recent imaging session, with mercury relatively high in the sky (thanks to a computerized mount and my house blocking the sun), it appeared to be a white partial disk.  some have been able to demonstrate surface detail on mercury with IR filters (which are less subject to atmospheric seeing effects).  unfortunately, i was not able to pull out any detail, but i did get a nice sharp half moon 😃. 

Mercury 7/15/2018 IR 2:23 UTC

with a lot of imagination, there may be a slight blotch to the right, but i'm keeping "detail on mercury" as a future project.  opportunities at dusk occur when it is furthest from the sun: ~November 6 2018, next February 27 or June 23 2019.

a few more images:

Mercury 7/4/2018 IR 3:14 UTC

Mercury 7/3/18 (red filter) 3:15 UTC

here's my 2006 effort low on the horizon, barely visible as an orange dot:

Mercury 10/19/2006

Imaging details:
Celestron 11 edge HD
Camera=ZWO ASI290MM
7/15/18
4x5 minute captures
~400 fps
best .25% of ~500,000 frames
Shutter=0.1 ms
Gain=361 (60%)
Histogramm=30%
Baader IR pass "685" nm
2x barlow and
upsampled 2x

Eastbluff
Southern California