It will be at greatest elongation, 18.2 degrees to the east of the sun, on Feb. 10. Venus and Mercury make a close approach in the evening sky on May 22, 2020. Time on Mercury. What about the atmosphere itself? During the first half of February, Mercury will complete its best evening appearance for mid-northern latitude observers during 2020, climbing higher in the west-southwestern sky every evening. NY 10036. The planet was called Mercury when it was in the evening sky, but it was known as Apollo when it appeared in the morning. Related: How to measure distances in the night sky. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, There is even a rumor that Nicolaus Copernicus — who, in the early 1500s, formulated a model of the universe that placed the sun, rather than Earth, at the center of the solar system — never saw it. Mercury is a terrestrial planet. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer. But on Dec. 8, 2125, North America will be in an excellent position to watch as Venus again crosses the sun. "Mercury has been known since very early times, but it is never very conspicuous, and there are many people who have never seen it at all," legendary British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore wrote in "The Boy's Book of Astronomy," (Roy Publishers, 1958). This smallest and fastest-moving planet (only 1.4 times wider than our moon) orbits the sun just a little over four times per year (4.15 time to be precise), but from our moving viewpoint on Earth it appears to go around only 3.15 times. In actuality, it arrives almost to the same place two or three days shy of eight years. Binoculars will make sighting Mercury easy, although you should also be able to pick it out with your naked eye. Because it's the closest planet to the sun, it is usually obscured by the light from our star. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees, so approximately 2.5 "fists" to the left of due west, along the horizon, will bring you to Mercury. It will be thinner and much lower, sitting to the lower left of Venus. (Image credit: SkySafari app) This smallest and fastest-moving … More on that later. The planet's synodic period, or the time it takes Venus to return to the same position in Earth's sky, is 584 days, and there are five of these in eight years. You will receive a verification email shortly. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, But each apparition into either the morning or evening sky is markedly different thanks to its very eccentric orbit and the various viewing angles from which we can see it. Thereafter, it will spend the rest of the year sinking toward its passage behind the sun in March 2021. Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. Also, Earth has its closest approach to the sun for the year. Southern Hemisphere observers will get their chance to spot Mercury in late March and early April, when the elusive planet will appear to soar high into the eastern sky at dawn. When three planets move into such a conjunction , it's known as a planetary trio. Mercury makes a complete orbit around the Sun (a year in Mercury time) in just 88 Earth days. 1631: Pierre Gassendi uses a telescope to watch from Earth as Mercury crosses the face of the Sun. On Earth and Mars it’s very similar. Space is a vacuum as well, so the only way to send heat out to the planets and other stars is through light, so the only thing warming Earth, Mars, Venus, and Mercury is sunlight. By the time it arrives at its greatest elongation, or its greatest separation from the sun, on Feb. 10, it will appear nearly half-illuminated. As if three days of stargazing wasn’t exciting enough – there’s a meteor shower to look for, peaking on January 4th. A day on Mercury lasts 59 Earth days. The map also shows the phases of the Moon, and all solar and lunar eclipses. One day-night cycle on Mercury takes 175.97 Earth days. It is a special planet: Earth's sister, coming nearest to us, very much alike in size, and perpetually covered by thick clouds that make it an excellent reflector of light. By Feb. 14, it will dim to magnitude +0.2, nearly as bright as the star Rigel, in the constellation Orion. Dust ring discovered in Mercury's orbit, NASA delays Mars helicopter Ingenuity's 1st flight to April 14, The Mars helicopter Ingenuity is about to make history in the skies of another world, On This Day in Space! Earth takes 24 hours to complete one spin, and Mars takes 25 hours. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers' Almanac and other publications. For those living in the Northern Hemisphere, a great "window of opportunity" for viewing Mercury in the evening sky opened up in late January. But while Venus rapidly falls, another planet is coming into view and is rapidly ascending in the evening twilight sky: Mercury. Rare Mercury transit, the last until 2032, thrills skywatchers around the world, Surprise! Related: When, where and how to see the planets in the 2020 night sky. This, in all likelihood, will be your last view of the elusive planet this month, for the combination of its lowering altitude and its descent into the brighter sunset glow will finally render Mercury invisible in the evenings that follow. And 6.5 degrees to the upper left of Mercury you'll sight a slender waxing crescent moon. It is small and rocky. New York, Significant Events. If Earth were the size of a nickel, Mercury would be about as big as a blueberry. But one more event is still to occur. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/Bill Dunford If your sky is clear and there are no tall obstructions (like trees or buildings), you should have no trouble seeing Mercury as a very bright "star" shining with a trace of a yellowish-orange tinge. Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. And come Thursday (May 21), the two planets will come closest together, like two ships passing in the night (or in this case, twilight). Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Ironically, as Venus bids a fond adieu to evening viewers at month's end, Mercury will be at its best, still shining bright at zero magnitude and setting nearly two hours after sundown, minutes from the end of evening twilight. As for what happens this year, on June 3, at 1:36 p.m. EDT (1536 GMT), Venus will pass just 13.25 arc minutes or 0.22 degrees north of the sun's uppermost edge. The next time Venus crosses the sun will be on Dec. 11, 2117, though that will not be visible anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. Mercury is called an "inferior planet" because its orbit is nearer to the sun than Earth's is. There is a highly noticeable rhythm in the motion of Venus: after eight years it returns to the same place in the sky on the same date. It has been a great run for the planet Venus. It is said that Pythagoras, in about the fifth century B.C., pointed out that they were one and the same. While it is relatively close to the sun, it is still millions of miles from it. Soon after it emerged into the evening sky in January, Mercury was a nearly full disk, which is why it currently appears so bright. A year on Mercury lasts 88 Earth days. On May 4, Mercury was at superior conjunction and passed directly behind the disk of the sun from Earth's perspective, moving from west to east (or from right to left), after which it entered the evening sky. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! Therefore, Mercury always appears, from our vantage point (as Moore wrote), to be in the same general direction as the sun. Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, you can send images and comments to spacephotos@space.com. Use it to locate a planet, the Moon, or the Sun and track their movements across the sky. Get breaking space news and the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! So, the behavior of Venus in 2012 repeats in 2020, 2013 repeats in 2021, and so on. NASA.gov brings you the latest images, videos and news from America's space agency. Just look the same distance — 25 degrees — to Venus' lower right, and you'll come to Mercury. "The reason for this is that it always seems to keep close to the sun in the sky, and can never be observed against a dark background.". The sidereal year of Venus — the amount of time it takes to complete one orbit around the sun — is 225 days (more precisely 224.7) and there are almost exactly 13 of these Venus-years in eight Earth years. On that night, look for a maximum of 80 meteors per hour radiating from a point in the northern sky. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. And we are in just such a period right now. There was a problem. You can also use brilliant Venus as a benchmark. Such transits occur in pairs, each separated by eight years. That window will remain open through Feb. 17, giving you a number of chances to see this so-called elusive planet with your own eyes. The earth sits at a comfy 150 million kilometers. Mercury doesn't really have an atmosphere. Ice has been found on Mercury! April 11, 1960: 'Project Ozma' begins search for alien life, Over a third of Antarctic ice shelf could collapse as climate change warms the Earth, Hubble telescope captures striking image of a dying galaxy, NASA delays Mars helicopter Ingenuity's 1st flight to April 14. Mercury's Terminator The MESSENGER spacecraft captured this view of Mercury's terminator, the dividing line between night and day, near the planet's south pole on August 5, 2012. Although its mean distance from the sun is only 36 million miles (58 million km), Mercury experiences by far the greatest range of temperatures: 800 degrees Fahrenheit (426 degrees Celsius) on its day side, and minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 173 degrees Celsius) on its night side. On average, each year it makes about 3.5 swings into the morning sky and as many into the evening. Interestingly, it takes Mercury 59 Earth days to rotate once on its axis, so all parts of its surface experience long periods of intense heat and extreme cold. Mercury’s Neighbors. That's why relatively few people have set eyes on it. In the pre-Christian era, this speedy planet actually had two names, as astronomers did not realize that it could alternately appear on one side of the sun and then the other. Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. It grew longer and more concave and as the resultant illuminated area continued to grow progressively larger, its brilliance grew even greater, reaching a pinnacle near the end of the month. NASA.gov brings you the latest news, images and videos from America's space agency, pioneering the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research. Monday, March 1 - Zodiacal Light (after dusk) If you live in a location where the sky is free of light … One astronomical unit (abbreviated as AU), is the distance from the Sun to Earth. But such slight discrepancies are significant enough to deny us a view of an exceedingly rare celestial sight that occurred both in 2004 (on June 8) and 2012 (on June 5): A transit of Venus. Glaring Venus will of course, stand out against the twilight sky. Launch off with "Astro Bob" to find out how you can spot Comet SWAN, the International Space Station, and Mercury passing by Venus! The only source of heat for mercury is from the sun. Close ... but no cigar (or transit). Venus not only has been growing wider and slimmer (and subsequently a bit dimmer), but it's now plunging sunward at more than a degree per day as it whirls toward us in space. The optimal viewing times fall between 6 and 7 p.m. local time. Solar System Scope is a model of Solar System, Night sky and Outer Space in real time, with accurate positions of objects and lots of interesting facts. In the coming days, Mercury will become more prominent in the evening sky as Venus becomes increasingly difficult to see, setting shortly after sunset. (Image credit: Starry Night). On Sunday (May 24), once again, concentrate low near the west-northwest horizon about 45 minutes after sunset. Mercury is the second densest planet after Earth, with a huge metallic core roughly 2,200 to 2,400 miles (3,600 to 3,800 km) wide, or about 75 percent of the planet's diameter.