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
Like this image
Comments
Geof Lewis
Geof Lewis, 2026 Feb 26 - 09:53 UTC

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

Copyright of all images and other observations submitted to the BAA remains with the owner of the work. Reproduction of work by third parties is expressly forbidden without the consent of the copyright holder. By submitting images to this online gallery, you grant the BAA permission to reproduce them in any of our publications.