Young Moon and Mercury

June 02, 2008

060208

Provided by: Konstantinos Christodoulopoulos
Summary author: Konstantinos Christodoulopoulos

The conjunction of the very young Moon and Mercury on January 9, 2008, gave me the opportunity to combine two photographic challenges in one photo. A sliver of a Moon, just 28 hours old, and Mercury separated from the Moon by just one degree. Mercury, according to the ancient Roman mythology, was the messenger of the Gods, and this hard to catch courier can only be seen for a short while before sunrise or after sunset, and only for several days each year. Click on image for larger view -- on the inset, Mercury is above the Moon. Photos taken from Mount Cithaeron (Greek: Kithairon) in Greece.

Photo details:
Big photo taken on January 9, 2008, 15:51 UTC (5:51 p.m. local time) - 4 degrees above the horizon. Telescope: Sky-Watcher Dobsonian 8; Camera: Fujifilm FinePix E550, 1/13 second exposure, ISO 200.

Small photo taken on January 9, 2008, 16:07, UTC (6:07 p.m. local time) – 1.5 degrees above the horizon. Telescope: Bresser Skylux 70mm f/10 Refractor; Camera: Fujifilm FinePix E550, 2 second exposure, ISO 200.