Mercury 2026-06-14 03:12 UTC. Eureka, surface detail.

Have been trying to capture surface detail on mercury for years.

finally succeeded:

Mercury 2026-06-14 03:12.8 UTC
The bright spot that lies just below the mid-point of the second limb ringing is the crater Fonteyn and it's bright ejecta
IR-850

Here are 3 consecutive 9 minute captures showing consistent structure arguing against noise.  

Mercury 2026-06-14 03:12.8 UTC
3 separate 9 minute captures
IR-850

image details:
East Bluff, CA

6/14/26 03:03-03:22 UTC 
camera ZWO ASI 290MM 
filters: ZWO IR-850
celestron 11" Edge HD, no barlow
firecapture
autstakkert (best 3%)
biggsky
photoshop upsampled 2x

the top image is the average of 3 with the outer section blended with the unsharpened version to cut down on the dark ringing artifact.

Thanks to Mercury Maven John Boudreau for confirmation and crater identification.  

3 separate captures:

Mid(UT)=030337.900

Duration=541.287s

FPS (avg.)=417

Shutter=2.347ms

Gain=351 (58%)

Histogramm=73%

20:03 local

alt 19 deg

Mid=201249.229

Duration=540.001s

FPS (avg.)=419

Shutter=2.347ms

Gain=351 (58%)

Histogramm=69%

20:12 local

alt 18 deg

Mid=202200.484

Duration=540.006s

FPS (avg.)=394

Shutter=2.347ms

Gain=351 (58%)

Histogramm=58%

20:22 local

alt 16 deg