Mercury, the hidden messenger of our Solar System

MERCURY. My best ever shot. Super proud of this and it went perfect to plan. This was by far a difficult capture and I had one shot at this because the angle in other areas is covered by trees and houses so this was it. Thank you and enjoy!

High Res https://app.astrobin.com/i/0ibq89

SCOPE: ORION XXG 16 DOB
CAMERA: Player One Neptune 664C
ZWO ADC/ 3x Televue Barlow
FILTER: SVBONY UV/IR CUT and IR PASS 685
SEEING: EXCELLENT
3 Minutes RGB / 9 minutes IR Pass 685- 3 min ser each
August 20, 2025
13:42 UTC

At just 23 degrees up, using the IR pass filter 685 for details and IR UV Cut for color accuracy. I took 1 RGB 3 minute SER 250fps 14% histogram. Then 3 SER videos 3 min each IR pass as the planet rose higher. This image was taken when the sun was a 4 degrees up. Keeping 14% Histogram across the board to not blow edges and the core awarded me with this view. What stood out the most to me instantly in processing before the stacking in PS was the bright regions near the top of the planet. This was visible in the live view as well so I knew something was going on. The Winjupos data is top right to compare to your hearts content as you peer into the Secrets of our 1st planet from the sun that gets little attention. Keeping the processing and the capturing very close to Venus and Mars, I stacked 10% our of 40,000 frames with 1.5X drizzle which retained a TON of details. Final processing in PS including the color which this is telling me this is the actual color.