dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (02/14/86)
Mercury is about to become clearly visible in the evening sky. More -- after this. February 14 A Good Time for Mercury It has been said that less than one per cent of people on the Earth have ever seen the planet Mercury. Mercury is a bright planet -- but it orbits so near the sun in space that it never strays far from the sun in our sky. Mercury is always seen in a twilight sky -- either just after sunset -- or before sunrise. If you've never seen Mercury, this month is a good time to try. The most elusive bright planet will be in the west after sunset for the next two weeks. If you don't see it this evening, try tomorrow -- or any evening until at least the 28th -- when Mercury will be at greatest elongation -- or as far from the sun as it will get this time around. Mercury will be 18 degrees from the sun on February 28. That's not as far as it can get from the sun on the dome of the sky. Its maximum apparent distance from the sun is 28 degrees. But Mercury will be easy to see this time around because of the steep angle of the ecliptic -- or path of the planets -- with the horizon in the evening at this time of year. By the end of the month, Mercury will be more or less straight up above the sunset point -- higher in the sky from the southern states than from the north -- but easy for everyone to see. Look for a bright silvery "star" -- one that moves rapidly against the other stars over the course of several nights. That'll be Mercury. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin