Have you ever seen the planet Mercury? This week might be a good time. Because Mercury [ http://www.nineplan…] orbits so close to the Sun, it never wanders far from the Sun in Earth's sky. If trailing the Sun, Mercury will be visible [ http://www.space.co…] low on the horizon for only a short while after sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. If leading the Sun, Mercury will be visible [ http://www.almanac.…] only shortly before sunrise [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. So at certain times of the year an informed skygazer [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] with a little determination can usually pick Mercury out [ http://stardate.org…] from a site with an clear horizon. Above, a lot of determination has been combined with a little digital trickery to show Mercury's successive positions [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] during March of 2004. Each picture was taken from the same location in Leeds, England [ http://www.cia.gov/…] exactly 33 minutes after sunset. Over the next two weeks, Mercury [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] will again be well placed for viewing [ http://www.jb.man.a…] above the western horizon at sunset, but by the third week in March it will have faded and dropped into the twilight [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
Have you ever seen the planet Mercury? This week might be a good time. Because Mercury [ http://www.nineplan…] orbits so close to the Sun, it never wanders far from the Sun in Earth's sky. If trailing the Sun, Mercury will be visible [ http://www.space.co…] low on the horizon for only a short while after sunset [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. If leading the Sun, Mercury will be visible [ http://www.almanac.…] only shortly before sunrise [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. So at certain times of the year an informed skygazer [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] with a little determination can usually pick Mercury out [ http://stardate.org…] from a site with an clear horizon. Above, a lot of determination has been combined with a little digital trickery to show Mercury's successive positions [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] during March of 2004. Each picture was taken from the same location in Leeds, England [ http://www.cia.gov/…] exactly 33 minutes after sunset. Over the next two weeks, Mercury [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] will again be well placed for viewing [ http://www.jb.man.a…] above the western horizon at sunset, but by the third week in March it will have faded and dropped into the twilight [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
