Mercury: poor morning apparition

Event Date: March 31st
Time: 7:00 AM

Brief

One planet that I have hardly mentioned, in the short time that I have done my entries in blog-form, is Mercury.  Shortly before the equinox, Mercury was easily visible in the western sky, for its best altitude above the horizon for the year--and still easily bright enough to see with the eye!  Although it has been faint, and too close in separation to the Sun to talk about over the last 12 days, just think back to what I said and showed with Venus; to get an idea of why Mercury is more visible in the late winter and early spring when looking west.  The planet was more north of the Sun, and at our latitude in this northern hemisphere, that means that it didn't sink below the horizon as soon as the Sun.  Now, Mercury is rising in the morning sky, having passed inferior conjunction, between us and the Sun. 

Detailed

   Mercury will not be easily visible for most of the time that it is seen west of the Sun, until late May, because of a few reasons:
(1) it is now south of the Sun, and therefore only rising a very short time before our star;
(2) the Sun is currently moving north quickly at this time of year, while Mercury is moving further south of the Sun in retrograde motion for a few more days.  As the Sun moves north, twilight time increases, with Mercury not brightening fast enough to be seen without the help of optical aid;
(3) the planet is moving towards aphelion during this time west of the Sun, meaning that even though it is waxing in phase, it will be far enough from the Sun compared to mean distance, that we don't have alot of Sunlit surface area facing us.   
   In short, this is not a good time to easily see Mercury.  By the time that it finally reaches superior conjunction and starting to move back towards perihelion, we are already near our most northern Sunrises of the year, washing out Mercury shortly after it rises.  By then also, Mercury's separation with the Sun shrinks enough that it is in the glare anyway.  When Mercury sets after the Sun again during the first half of Summer, it will be a little more visible and higher, yet not by much.  Our next best time to see Mercury very well, will be the next time that it is a morning target and eventually more north of the Sun.
   Image #1 shows Mercury as it appears shortly before Sunrise, and not long after it rises.  Because of atmospheric pollution and only magnitude +2, it will be nearly impossible to see without a telescope, and a flat horizon would be required with very clear skies.  Image #2 shows a zoom-in of the phase Mercury is now: a waxing crescent.  It is magnified by about 300 times, to show the crescent shape more clearly.  It will remain a crescent until about the time of greatest elongation in April.

*click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

   Try using optical aid on Mercury at about that time or shortly after, although it will still be difficult to find.  It will not be visible to the eye until early May, when it starts to brighten a little more, and catch up with the Sun a little more in northern declination.  The showing of the ecliptic and celestial equator indicate Mercury being more south of the Sun, while its orbit shows where it is in relation to the ecliptic.  Reminder: the software does not show as much Sun glare as we will see in the sky.