Observation by Martin Lewis: Mercury Sodium tail 24th Feb 2026

Uploaded by

Martin Lewis

Observer

Martin Lewis

Observed

2026 Feb 24 - 18:16

Uploaded

2026 Feb 26 - 00:35

Objects

Mercury

Equipment

222mm Dobsonian
ASI585MM with Knight Optical 3nm filter

Location

St Albans, UK

Target name

Mercury

Title

Mercury Sodium tail 24th Feb 2026

About this image

A first for me, Mercury's sodium tail in the miraculously clear skies of 24th Feb and with much help from Chris Hooker - whose help and inspiration was key in capturing this elusive feature. 110secs accumulated exposure time with 11x10sec images at f5.8 with my 222mm Dob.

Martin

Files associated with this observation

Mercur_Na_tail 2026-02-24_1816_Na_MLe.png (1.4 MB)

Like this image

David Basey, Geof Lewis, Peter Mulligan, Dawson, Chris Hooker, Dominic Ford, Honor Wheeler, Alan Dowdell, Peter Tickner, Mike Foulkes

Comments

Geof Lewis, 2026 Feb 26 - 09:53 UTC

Wow Martin, that's imprssive. I didn't even know that the Mercury sodium tail existed....!!

Chris Hooker, 2026 Feb 26 - 17:40 UTC

Well done, Martin! I'm delighted you have now joined the ranks of BAA observers who have captured Mercury's tail - one of the more challenging targets for planetary imagers - and another one to add to your impressive list!

Chris

Martin Lewis

Martin Lewis, 2026 Feb 26 - 23:21 UTC

And a huge thanks to you, Chris, for you help and inspiration with this challenge. Astonished that it was even possible, given the run of bad weather we have had this year. Looking forward to developing my techniques on this further.

Martin

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