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Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado
Explanation:
Have you ever seen the planet Mercury?
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 unobscured horizon.
Above, a lot of determination has been combined
with a little
digital manipulation to
show Mercury's successive positions during March of 2000.
Each picture was taken from the same location in Spain
when the Sun itself was 10 degrees below the
horizon and superposed on the single most
photogenic sunset.
Currently, Mercury is
visible in the western sky after sunset, but will disappear in the Sun's glare
after a few days.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: horizon - sunset
Publications with words: horizon - sunset
See also: