Sunset, Mercury, and a New Moon from Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge

I decided to check out Sunset Porch at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge after work yesterday to try to view this “Planetary Alignment” that has been hyped on social media this week. I was super skeptical about seeing anything beyond Mars, Jupiter, and Venus… it seemed like Mercury, the Moon, and Saturn would be too low in the sky and too close to the sun when I was doing research on my planning apps. I mean, Mercury always seems to be too close to the sun to observe.

I knew I’d need to have an unobstructed view of the horizon, so I drove about an hour west to gain some advantage with elevation. I’ve had this location saved in Google Maps for years, but still had not checked it out. So here’s a sunset from Sunset Porch.

Sunset timelapse taken from “Sunset Porch” at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge on February 28, 2025

Before I get into how the planetary viewing went, here’s some other pictures I took while waiting for the planets to be visible…

Sunset and bokeh, captured at 6:16 pm

Taken with my full spectrum modified Sony a7, 50mm lens

f/11 | 1/125s | ISO100

Just before the sun disappears, captured at 6:58 pm. Taken with my Sony a7iii, 18mm lens, f2.8 | 1/4000s | ISO400

The moon is now faintly visible with a different lens, captured at 6:58 pm

Taken with my full spectrum modified Sony a7, zoom lens at 200mm

f/2.8 | 1/60s | ISO400

And then, much to my surprise, there was Mercury…

I’m super excited because, as far as I can remember, this is the first time I’ve ever captured Mercury.

Mercury and a new moon, captured at 7:09 pm. Taken with my Sony a7, zoom lens at 200mm, f2.8 | 1/5s | ISO400

Mercury and a new moon, captured at 7:13 pm

Taken with my full spectrum modified Sony a7, zoom lens at 200mm

f2.8 | 2/5s | ISO400

Barely visible Moon and Mercury with an 18mm lens. Taken with my Sony a7iii, 18mm, f2.8 | 1/2s | ISO800

Just for funsies, Headlights coming up 1431, captured at 7:19 pm

Taken with my full spectrum modified Sony a7, 50mm lens, composite of nine 4-second exposures

f/2.8 | ISO400

The Moon, Mercury, and Venus, captured at 7:21 pm

Taken with my full spectrum modified Sony a7, 50mm lens

f/2.8 | 4s | ISO400

After the show…

Orion from the parking lot, captured at 7:33 pm

Taken with my full spectrum modified Sony a7, 18mm lens

f/2.8 | 15s | ISO1600

Orion, Taurus, Pleiades, and Jupiter, captured at 7:35 pm. Taken with my Sony a7, 18mm, f2.8 | 15s | ISO1600