The timing is right for a skywatching of awesome proportions. Just as NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft is about to go into orbit around Sol’s innermost planet, Mercury will be visible to the naked eye from here on Earth. Mercury was shining bright last night, Sunday March 13th, and will continue for several days. Looking west into the sunset, you will be able to see a bright Jupiter and, just below that, a gleaming Mercury.
Jupiter and Mercury shine bright on March 13th, 2011
Photo via cybermystic on Flickr
On March 17th at 8:45 p.m. EDT, MESSENGER will perform a 15-minute engine burn placing it into Mercury’s orbit. Once in place, MESSENGER will continue to take stunning pictures of the planets surface in order to study its geomorphology, craters, volcanology(?), and more. Learn more about the mission at the official MESSENGER mission website.
Sky & Telescope has a great skywatcher’s diagram:
*Note: The skycharts above will work in the USA. Those of us in other parts of the world can use a tool such as Your Sky to see if you can spot Mercury. (Put in your Lat-Lon coords, the time of day around sunset, and look for the Mercury symbol)
Be the first to comment.