Explanation:
When warm
sunset
hues begin to fade, two celestial beacons
now shine in the evening twilight, Mercury and Jupiter.
Wandering away
from the Sun in planet Earth's sky, Mercury will offer
good views
this month as spring approaches in the northern hemisphere
where the ecliptic
plane makes a steep angle with the western horizon.
But Jupiter will continue sinking lower in the sky after sunset.
In fact, the normally elusive Mercury shines
well above Jupiter and the orange sunset glow in
this serene sky.
Captured earlier this week from the island of
of
Frösön in northern Sweden,
the scene looks across
Lake Storsjön toward the village of Hallen and distant mountains.
Of course, even better views of Mercury can be had by the
MESSENGER spacecraft, now orbiting
the Solar System's
innermost planet!
