All the planets of the Solar System on December 25, 2022
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello


All the planets of the Solar System photographed in 15 minutes with Bushnell Auto 200mm f/3.5 (5.6/8.0) telephoto + EOS 4000D on MiniTrack LX2.
Mercury and Venus are in the same frame, the others framed individually in sequence.

Tags:   planets solar system night sky space Congiunzioni planetarie

© All Rights Reserved

Mercury close to M45 on April 30, 2022
Oria (Brindisi), Italy
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello

Tags:   Mercury Pleiades sky solar system Congiunzioni planetarie

© All Rights Reserved

Mercury exosphere and Sodium Tail @587nm
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello
Oria (Brindisi) on April 30, 2022 at 18:51 UTC - 200mm f/3.5 lens
No particular processing
I used an interference filter called "Na broadband fluorescence" (20nm), centered on 590 nm used for lighting and photogrammetry. I have two and can also use them coupled with adapter rings. The optical density is 6, so it is necessary to stretch the exposure to have a good recorded signal. However, with fast optics this is not a problem.
Inset: 10x30s stacked image

See also Lunar Exosphere:
www.flickr.com/photos/133259498@N05/51994474288/in/datepo...

To use this image please first read here: www.flickr.com/people/133259498@N05/

Tags:   Mercury sodium tail exosphere mercury exosphere mercury tail comet planet solar system amateur astrophotography mercury planet tail Mercury's sodium tail

© All Rights Reserved

Mercury's Sodium Tail on December 25, 2022
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello.

Albeit faintly, under less than ideal conditions, I was able to capture Mercury's sodium tail with the simple addition of an ordinary yellow filter. Here a zoom.

Tags:   mercury sodium tail comet solar system Mercury's Sodium Tail

© All Rights Reserved

Mercury Transit on November 13, 1986
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello


Transit of Mercury over the Sun on November 13, 1986
taken with 114/900mm + Praktica MTL5 Kodak VR100 film.

Very thick fog in Lecce - Borgo San Nicola, but I wanted to capture the phenomenon at all costs, visible only in the final phases, shortly after sunrise, for about twenty minutes.
The solar filter was too dense, so I opted for an improvised eccentric diaphragm to put in front of the 114/900mm telescope (a 6cm circular hole drilled in the bottom of a cardboard box in a few seconds) and shutter speeds of 1/500 and 1/1000 sec with Kodak VR100 film.
I was lucky and these remain among the few images taken from Italy of the event.
Scanning from originals negative originals with HP DeskJet 2710 and processing.

Edit: December 28, 2023

Tags:   Mercury Transit 1986 solar system vintage astrophotography sky space

© All Rights Reserved