Observation by Dawson: Mercury's sodium tail

Uploaded by

Dawson

Observer

Dawson

Observed

2025 Mar 09 - 18:44

Uploaded

2025 Jul 08 - 09:34

Objects

Mercury

Equipment

Skywatcher ED80
0.85x focal reducer
ASI ZWO 174MM

Exposure

10 x 45 second exposures

Location

Nottingham

Target name

Mercury's sodium tail

Title

Mercury's sodium tail

About this image

From the March observing window. Five days after perihelion. This cropped image shows the tail length to measure 14.1 arcminutes which equates to a true tail length of 549,862km. TAA 32 degrees, radial velocity 5.4km/s. Full report in the Mercury and Venus Section's Messenger Newsletter, June 2025.

Files associated with this observation

090325s.png (183.8 kB)

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Tim Haymes, Callum Potter

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