Mercury to Wow Southern Skywatchers This Week

This week, observers in the Southern Hemisphere looking west just after
sunset will have a fine view of the planet Mercury. This will be the
view from Melbourne half an hour after sunset.



Even though Mercury is one of the brightest objects in the sky, very
few observers have ever seen the planet in the night sky. That’s because
it never strays very far from the sun, and is usually lost in its glare.


This week is one of the rare exceptions to see Mercury,
but only if you live south of the equator. The planet was at its
greatest elongation from the sun on Sunday (Sept. 21). Because of the
tilt of the Earth’s axis, this placed it high above the horizon in the
Southern Hemisphere, but too low to be observed in the Northern
Hemisphere.





Earlier that day, Mercury also passed about half a degree south
of the bright star Spica in the constellation Virgo. (Your closed fist
held out at arm’s length covers 10 degrees of the night sky).

Mercury is
slightly brighter than Spica. Further up in the sky, the planet Saturn
is intermediate in brightness between the two.


I find the best time to spot Mercury is about half an hour after local sunset. Even then, binoculars are helpful to spot Mercury. Once spotted in binoculars, it’s usually easy to see with the naked eye.




Northern observers will have to wait until early November to catch a view of Mercury in the dawn sky.


Also this coming week, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, the sun will reach
its equinox, crossing the celestial equator moving southward. This
marks the first day of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, and the first
day of spring in the south.

Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AscensionEarth2012/~3/ZoGzdDYENts/mercury-to-wow-southern-skywatchers.html

Views: 0

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes