Mercury in the west

Hi folks. I have got Mercury in the telescope at present.

Report to follow.

Aubrey.

Hello all. I am blessed to have a reasonably low western horizon from my back garden in Dublin.

I first saw Mercury in my guidescope at 3 minutes to 10pm. It was surprisingly bright at 11X, although invisible to my eye. My guidescope is an 70mm apo. My main scope 158mm apo could make out the half phase of Mercury, but only at 167X. There was lots of turbulence and boiling conditions at 225X -too much for my liking. So I stuck with 167X.
Nearby in the same field of view, I could just about see a faint star 98 Tauri -nothing special about the star. I am very happy with my observation.

Aubrey.

My telescope is up in the back garden already. Mercury appears at 10pm precisely and I hope to figure out its phase.

Report will follow.

Aubrey.

Had a perfect western horizon myself but thought the elusive fellow was significantly more difficult than in January, despite the more 'favourable' elongation. Anyway here's a quick shot, with Alnath to the NE

Yes, Fermidox. I completely agree. There were still the same turbulent conditions in the western sky on Tuesday and last Friday night. I could barely make out the half phase last night at 140X and 167X. Plus the planet goes down very fast. At no time last night could I make it out with my own eyes. And even at 11X in the guidescope, it was wobbling about big time.
However, I have to say I went on to have a great time with Jupiter.All 4 moons were on the western side, and Wasat (Delta Geminorum) is such a lovely double star very close nearby -split at 112X.
I then split Porrima (Gamma Virginis) at a mere 112X, 140X and 167X. Perfect at 140X. And Izar (Epsilon Bootis) split at 140X and 167X.
I was then challenged by John O'Neill to give an estimate on the variable star U Herculis. To find it is very easy. I starhopped from Gamma Herculis, which is a wide double star and visible to the unaided eye, and U Herculis is a very small distance south east. It is a lovely red M-class star, and I estimated it to be magnitude 8.7 at this first time. The red hue is very distinct at 40X and 112X. Variable stars can be great fun. Does anyone else try these from time to time?

A mostly successful night for me and Valerie.

Aubrey.