Chasing Mercury!

[WCGucfa]

I decided to get a shot of Mercury which was shining gold in the NW, as a welcome back to the evening sky.
4/17/16, 3.2 seconds, Canon T3i

Bill G.

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pl5Glsdnj ... .jpg[/img][/url]

[Paul D]

Bill,

Great shot as always, still the one planet that has eluded me. Planning on seeing at least on May 9th with my PST. Of course we all know it will be cloudy all day on that day because its a day off for me.

[WCGucfa]

Hey Paul,

I'm afraid I may miss the transit even without clouds. Work is crazy.
You know what that's like! We'll see.
Thanks for the feedback.

Your Comet Comrade, Bill G.

[AndyG]

Wonderful image, Bill. Thanks for posting it!

[WCGucfa]

Thanks Andy.

I used binoc's to find it and took an image with every degree or so drop in altitude until
I had a pleasing exposure. The sky was of course, a little too bright in the beginning exposures.
The decision was made not to add any magnification, to present the planet as it looked with the naked eye.

Bill G.

[rjbokleman]

Very nice. I too still have this planet on my list. My NW view is full of trees and sometimes you're just too tired to run off to a field with a better view.

[Apollo XX]

Super-Duper, Bill! Have not seen it yet myself during this apparition, and I'm afraid that time is running out. Perhaps on May 9th? One can only hope!

[WCGucfa]

Thanks guys!
Gee Mike, I hate to tell you, but I tried photographing Mercury during a transit.
It's not easy. The Sun is illuminating it from the BACK! Very difficult!!

Bill G.

[Bruce D]

LOL Bill!