Mercury Rising

[Lance]

MERCURY RISING: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west into the sunset. That bright pink "star" shining through the twilight is actually a super-cratered shrinking planet with ice at its poles--in other words, Mercury.


Mercury finder chart courtesy of Astronomy magazine.

Now is a good time to see Mercury. The planet is emerging from the glare of the sun for a rare appearance in the evening sky--see the finder chart, above. If you have a backyard telescope, point it at Mercury. Mercury has phases and at the moment it looks like a tiny half-Moon: image.

[I Am He]

But wouldn't Planet block it out??

[Lance]

Probably. It's just another NASA lie...

[neocracker]

No if you've been good little boys (and girls) and going to sleep early so that you can be outside before dawn, you can see Venus and Mercury together (sort of).

Well...at least the two were visible early Monday morning in the NE and they will be again for the next couple of mornings with about a 2° separation in altitude.


Neocracker.

[Dragon Star]

I thought this thread was going to be about the movie...

[Lance]

But then if would be in the Television and The Movies forum.

[MM_Dandy]

Oh, shoot. I was up before dawn today, but I didn't look. I won't be up before dawn again until Friday, if I can help it. Hopefully, the weather will be fair, and just maybe I'll remember to take a look.

Edit: Huh, I could've sworn that this thread wasn't two months old...
Well, I'll still look if I remember, who knows. I might see...something.

[Lance]

Edit: Huh, I could've sworn that this thread wasn't two months old...
Well, I'll still look if I remember, who knows. I might see...something.

Mercury does it's think several times a year. The thread is old but Mercury is doing it again.

[umop ap!sdn]

I thought this thread was going to be about the movie...

I thought of thermometers. :D

[neocracker]

Oh, shoot. I was up before dawn today, but I didn't look. I won't be up before dawn again until Friday, if I can help it. Hopefully, the weather will be fair, and just maybe I'll remember to take a look.

Edit: Huh, I could've sworn that this thread wasn't two months old...
Well, I'll still look if I remember, who knows. I might see...something.

According to my copy of Cartes du Ciel...Venus and Mercury still appear one above the other on friday morning.

Venus rises at 5:11 am (CDT)
Mercury rises at 5:22 am
Sunrise at 6:49 am

Location: Forney, Texas (SE of Dallas)

[Lance]

I used Heavens Above and enter in 5:30 AM and incremented the day by ones. It looks like they'll be close for some time yet, with closest approach on the 12th or 13th.

I gotta get out there one morning...

[Enzo]

YAY.

Finally spotted the damned thing. It is not very bright, so I have to get out there early enough for it not to be washed out, but late enough for it to be up. 5:30AM Venus was up, sky pretty dark, but Merc was still behind the tree line. 5:50, much brighter out, but the extra 5 degrees up made the difference. Clear cool air today, no clouds.

In all my years of watching for it, everything has to be just right. SO I have only spotted Merc a few times.

[Heid the Ba]

I can't see a thing, it's broad daylight here, has been for hours . . .

Enzo I was about to ask in another thread what you were doing up at that ungodly hour. Question answered.

[MM_Dandy]

Well, I was up this morning a little before 6:00 and I looked. Unfortunately, the cloud cover from the thunderstorm was only just starting to break up. I'm not sure if I would've been able to see Mercury, even without the cloud cover, since there's a good bit of houses and trees to the east of our house. Oh, well, there's always next time - provided the world doesn't come to an end on the 22nd.

[Мастер]

Oh, well, there's always next time - provided the world doesn't come to an end on the 22nd.

Well if it does, then those nasty houses and trees won't be in the way.

[Dragon Star]

Oh, well, there's always next time - provided the world doesn't come to an end on the 22nd.

Well if it does, then those nasty houses and trees won't be in the way.

Nor the atmosphere for that matter...

[Enzo]

I figure about a 20 minute window in good conditions with fairly low horizon.

It's right there about an inch below bright Venus. Tiny pinprick of light.

I am up at this ungody hour, Ba, because I don't go home from work until about 6:30AM.

[Enzo]

Went out again this AM. A little earlier, 5:40AM. Merc was just over the trees. Well the lower spots among the trees. Easier to see, but not really much brighter than Orions belt. Though Orion was in a slightly darker part of the sky.

Just how bright can Mercury get? SInce I didn't catch it a few days ago, am I correct in assuming it has travelled to the garther side of the sun and is about to go behind it. Venus, though bright, is obviously on the far leg and is way less brilliant than it can get. What sort of magnitude can Merc get when on the closer side?

On a given day, Merc really doesn't last long visually. I am strictly a naked eye guy.

[Мастер]

Just how bright can Mercury get?

I've seen it in the evening, and it struck me as brigher than almost any star, although I didn't take any measurements :P It's funny, when scanning the open sky, I would often miss it, but when looking right at the correct part of the sky, it would suddenly pop into view and be so obvious it was hard to believe I couldn't see it before. When I've seen it, the sun was down but the sky was still mostly blue, and I could see Mercury before the stars, and it seemed pretty bright, but again, I had to be looking in the right place before I could see it - just scanning the skies didn't work too well. . .

[Enzo]

I am sure it gets brighter than this particular appearance, but was unsure by how much.

I know what you mean about popping into view. One little game I like to play is spotting Venus while the sun is up. Easier when the sun is rising, bur I can often pick it out in the evening before the sun goes down. Assuming Venus is on the close end of orbit and is the evening star.