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.
