Mercury pass greatest elongation, near Antares

Event Date: November 1st

Time: 6:30 PM

Brief

   With Mercury past greatest elongation, it now starts to dim faster (mag +0.1) as it quickly approaches inferior conjunction.  Once it begins retrograde motion early next week, it will seem to "plunge" towards the Sun.  That is, it is moving east to west, while the Sun moves west to east.  Given the poor apparition of Mercury already, this means that the time to see it will be very brief to eventually not at all, over a period of days.  Here is Mercury in orbit, along with the celestial guidelines.  Once dark enough, red-giant star Antares is seen not far from it, to Mercury's east-southeast.

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

Detailed

By mid-month, we lose it for a little over a week, and it re-emerges from the glare of our star by month's end in the morning sky.  Once again, as mentioned a few entries ago, that apparition of Mercury will be much better than this one.  Also, as Mercury approaches conjunction this month, it also approaches perigee.  As we approach our aphelion with the Sun, that is another reason why can look forward to Mercury in late-November/early December: it will be a little brighter when high enough.  Look forward to then, yet in the meantime, try to still find it as an evening "star" while it is still barely bright enough to see through atmospheric pollution.  Remember to try viewing at a high elevation with little or no obstruction along the horizon, for better results.