This week, Astronomy magazine Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher invites you to check out Mercury, which will be at its greatest elongation on April 3. This is when the planet appears farthest away from the Sun in the morning sky, making it easier to see. Good luck!
Video transcript:
Welcome to This Week in Astronomy, brought to you by Celestron, the world’s leading manufacturer of telescopes. I’m Dave Eicher, editor emeritus of Astronomy magazine.
You know, I’ve got a question for you this week: Have you ever seen the planet Mercury in your Celestron telescope or binoculars? Aside from Pluto, Mercury is the least observed planet, and spotting it can be pretty cool — frankly, a kind of a neat achievement for amateurs, although it never strays very far from the Sun in our sky, so it’s a bit of a challenge.
A nice opportunity to see Mercury, however, arrives in early April because this small planet reaches the so-called greatest eastern elongation from the Sun. So, what you might do is head out on April 3 in the early morning sky, or thereabouts — you know, surrounding that day — and take a shot at seeing the innermost planet.
You’ll need a clear, low horizon to the east, of course, and something like maybe 5:30 a.m. local time will afford a good view, depending on where you are, with the planet a few degrees above the horizon. Mars, by the way, will rise slightly later, even closer to the Sun in the sky.
Mercury shines at magnitude 0.4 at this time, and you’ll notice a slightly yellowish color that Mercury shows in the eyepiece. If you spot Mercury, you’ll join the ranks of a relatively small group of astro-enthusiasts who have seen our planetary neighbor, the one that’s closest to the Sun.
So, good luck hunting Mercury. I wish you well, and I’ll see you next time.
