Event Date: May 29th
Time: 8:30 PM
Brief
Mercury spent nearly two months with a poor apparition west of the Sun in the morning sky: either it was very low and hard to see, or for several days, engulfed in the glare of the Sun. For the next week, it will continue to be too low in the sky at Sunset, while the long twilight following the Sun will make Mercury nearly impossible to find before it gets too low towards the horizon. I am showing it labeled below in the image, also for a second reason mentioned in the detailed. As the ecliptic shows, along with Mercury's orbit, the geometry of the sky is decent enough that the planet will emerge from the Sun's glare and get reasonably high in the sky to see with the eye alone.
Time: 8:30 PM
Brief
Mercury spent nearly two months with a poor apparition west of the Sun in the morning sky: either it was very low and hard to see, or for several days, engulfed in the glare of the Sun. For the next week, it will continue to be too low in the sky at Sunset, while the long twilight following the Sun will make Mercury nearly impossible to find before it gets too low towards the horizon. I am showing it labeled below in the image, also for a second reason mentioned in the detailed. As the ecliptic shows, along with Mercury's orbit, the geometry of the sky is decent enough that the planet will emerge from the Sun's glare and get reasonably high in the sky to see with the eye alone.
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| click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp |
Detailed
Venus is finishing its cycle east of the Sun as Mercury begins its, and seen just a few degrees away. While the two move in different directions, with Venus in retrograde and Mercury in pro-grade, they will pass by each other closely in separation. Unfortunately by then, both will be too hard to see. Venus is dropping back to the ecliptic a little more each day while Mercury will approach it more slowly. I kept Venus' orbit out of the image so it will not overlap Mercury's smaller one, yet the path of Venus can still be visualized. The result of their paths from our point of view, will mean no occultation of Mercury by Venus, even though Mercury's angular size is currently only about 1/11th that of Venus'.
If skies are their clearest, your horizon is completely unobstructed and viewing the horizon from high enough up, we may beable to see Venus for only a short time this evening; it sets only 56 minutes later this evening, and less than 50 tomorrow. By the time Venus and Mercury pass at their closest separation June 1st, the set time between the Sun and the planets is down to 30 minutes. Have optical aid, and good luck with the skies cooperation clarity-wise! I will include a zoom-in image that evening, which will show them just past the peak.
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