Mercury's Elongation Over Bursa

From the photographer: “This time lapse composite picture shows Mercury shining over the eastern horizon over Bursa at dawn, between 14th September and 6th October 2023. I was able to photograph the same area in the east, as seen from the rooftop of our apartment building every morning in the 3-week period when Mercury was visible at dawn, apart from 4 days when the sky was cloudy.

After inferior conjunction, Mercury begins to rise from the left and gets higher every morning until 23rd September 2023 when it is at greatest elongation. Then it gets lower in the sky day by day, to be lost on its way to superior conjunction. It also gets brighter every day, as its phase changes from crescent into full.

Each photograph is timed for the minute when the Sun was 9 degrees below the horizon. I registered all Mercury images on the picture from 17th September 2023. An animated sequence consisting of the individual pictures can be seen at this Vimeo video.

By the way, some wiggly dark shapes can be noticed high center, which were none other than 4 crows flying by.”