Tag: mercury

See Mercury at its best in the night sky this month

If there is one thing that has bothered me the most in more than 50 years of involvement in astronomy outreach, it is the way that most astronomy books give the impression that the planet Mercury is a very challenging, if not almost impossible object to see. It has, in fact, earned this planet the […]

See the elusive planet Mercury at its best and brightest on Friday

The elusive planet Mercury reaches its furthest point from the sun on Friday (Jan. 12), with this separation allowing skywatchers a chance to spot the tiny planet. The fact that Mercury is the closest planet to the sun means that it is often washed out by the light from our star and thus not visible. […]

January’s new moon welcomes Mercury as a ‘morning star’

The new moon of January will be at 6:57 a.m. Eastern Time on January 11, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, and a day later the planet Mercury will reach its greatest westward separation from the sun, showing itself as a “morning star.” New moons happen when the sun and moon share the same celestial […]