Venus and Mercury Appulse

I managed to observe the 4 arcminute separation between Venus and Mercury today.  See the full report for details, images, and a movie!

Transit of Venus on June 8, 2004

The following images were taken with my 6-inch refractor from the roof of USNO's main building, when such things were still allowed. Like many places along the East Coast, we were greeted at dawn with thick fog, and all optical surfaces immediately acquired a thick coating of dew. After a panic search of the observatory, someone located a small electric heat gun made for such things which cleared off the dew.

Spaceweather.com has a gallery of ToV photos that is worth a browse.

10 seconds before third contact

third contact

Jupiter and Io on March 8, 2002

Jupiter and Io, 6-inch (150mm) refractor, on a heavily-overcast night just before the clouds shut things down.

Jupiter and company on March 1, 2002

Jupiter, Io, and Europa, 6-inch (150mm) refractor.

Jupiter and Ganymede on December 4, 2001

Jupiter and Ganymede, 4.7-inch (120mm) refractor. Notice the Great Red Spot.

Saturn on December 4, 2001