Very thin Waning Moon and Mercury rising at Dawn
On Christmas Day I managed to capture the very thin Waning Moon and Mercury rising above a hill in Cecil Kop Nature Reserve at 4.44 am. This picture, which is one of many taken after the thin crescent first appeared at 4.33, is the only one in which Mercury (which was not visible to the naked eye) appears. By 4.47 the Moon had also disappeared into the brightening dawn sky. The Moon was so thin (1%) and Mercury was so faint and even closer to the approaching sun (which rose half an hour later) that I did not think it would be possible to photograph them. Camera: Tripod-mounted Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 in night scenery mode.

Tripod-mounted Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 in night scenery mode

Photoshop Elements 15 - search for, location and slight enhancement of brightness of Mercury