Mercury will be visible before the dawn of June 16, 2022, when the planet reaches its greatest western elongation. (Image: Chris Vaughan) Mercury will be revealed shortly tomorrow (June 16) before dawn, when the planet reaches its farthest separation from the sun as seen from Earth, also known as its greatest western elongation. The elusive planet Mercury will reach a maximum angle 23 ° west of the sun. viewers close to Ecuador and further south will experience the best viewing opportunities. “Between about 4:30 and 5 p.m. “In your local time zone, look for the 0.45-magnitude planet shining very low in the east-northeast sky,” writes geophysicist Chris Vaughan, an amateur astronomer with SkySafari software overseeing the Space.com Night Sky diary. . “It will be placed with a fist diameter at the bottom left on a much brighter Venus.” The exact time of the event varies depending on your specific location, so you may want to look at a sky monitoring application such as SkySafari or software such as Starry Night to control the hours. Our choices for the best star-watching apps can help you with your planning. “Do not worry if the sky is cloudy on Thursday,” Vaughan said. “Mercury will be almost as far from the sun in the surrounding mornings.” Mercury is usually a difficult planet to locate, as its orbit is closer to the sun than on Earth, and is often overshadowed by the sun’s glare. The best time to see Mercury is when the planet reaches its greatest elongation – its greatest angular distance from the sun. According to In-The-Sky.org (opens in a new tab) these occurrences occur about every three to four months. Mercury revolves around the sun every 88 Earth days, traveling through space at almost 112,000 mph (180,000 km / h), faster than any other planet. In 2019, there was a rare transit of Mercury where the planet crossed the face of the sun. This will not happen again until 2032. If you’re looking for a telescope or binoculars to see the elongation of planets like tomorrow’s event, our guides for the best binoculars and telescope deals now can help. Our best astrophotography cameras and the best astrophotography lenses to prepare to capture the next star sight in a photo. Editor’s note: If you took a photo of Mercury and would like to share it with Space.com readers, please send your photos, comments, and name and location to [email protected]
