Explanation: Have you ever seen the planet Mercury? This week might be a good time. Because Mercury orbits so close to the Sun, it never wanders far from the Sun in Earth's sky. If trailing the Sun, Mercury will be visible low on the horizon for only a short while after sunset. If leading the Sun, Mercury will be visible only shortly before sunrise. So at certain times of the year an informed skygazer with a little determination can usually pick Mercury out from a site with an clear horizon. Above, a lot of determination has been combined with a little digital trickery to show Mercury's successive positions during March of 2004. Each picture was taken from the same location in Leeds, England exactly 33 minutes after sunset. Over the next two weeks, Mercury will again be well placed for viewing above the western horizon at sunset, but by the third week in March it will have faded and dropped into the twilight.

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami: Mercury - horizon - Merkurii Publikacii so slovami: Mercury - horizon - Merkurii
Sm. takzhe: Krater Vival'di na Merkurii ot apparata "BepiKolombo" S dobrym utrom, Luna Merkurii s proletayushego apparata "BepiKolombo" Natrievyi hvost Merkuriya Merkurii i svet da Vinchi Venera, Merkurii i ubyvayushaya Luna Natrievyi sled Merkuriya Vse publikacii na tu zhe temu >>