Astro photos - Mercury

All pictures were taken at (N51.36 W0.25) unless labeled otherwise. Click on any image to see a larger (up to 1024 pixels wide) version.

Crescent Moon (1 day, 7¾ hours old) and Mercury. 2008/05/06 21:04 BST 2008/05/06 21:04 BST
Crescent Moon (1 day, 7¾ hours old) and Mercury.
Canon 350d, Sigma 70-300mm lens set to 300mm, ISO 100, 0.3 sec, f/5.6

Crescent Moon (1 day, 7¾ hours old) and Mercury. 2008/05/06 21:02 BST 2008/05/06 21:02 BST
Crescent Moon (1 day, 7¾ hours old) and Mercury, with an aeroplane trail.
Canon 350d, Sigma 70-300mm lens set to 300mm, ISO 100, 0.25 sec, f/5.6

Mercury. 2005/03/17 19:07 GMT 2005/03/17 19:07 GMT
Mercury.
Pentacon 200mm f/4 camera lens, Baader IR/UV filter, TS SuperView 40.
Nikon 4500, 13.6mm fl, ISO 100, 4 sec, f/3.2.

This was only the second time I'd seen Mercury. I used the lens and eyepiece combination to increase the light grasp, rather than to get high magnification. These shots are only just over twice the effective focal length of my first Mercury shot.

Mercury (plus an aeroplane). 2005/03/17 19:07 GMT 2005/03/17 19:07 GMT
Mercury.
Pentacon 200mm f/4 camera lens, Baader IR/UV filter, TS SuperView 40.
Nikon 4500, 13.6mm fl, ISO 100, 4 sec, f/3.2.

This picture shows one of the disadvantages of living so close to Heathrow airport.

Mercury. 2005/03/14 18:54 GMT 2005/03/14 18:54 GMT
Mercury.
Nikon 4500, 32mm fl, ISO 100, 8 sec, f/5.1

This was the first time I'd ever seen Mercury. The photograph is unremarkable, but it marks a personal first! It might have been better if I'd used the remote control to reduce camera shake.