Hello of us, tune in each week of 2023 for one of the best in astronomy from Astronomy Editor Dave Eicher, delivered to you by Celestron.
This week, we’ll goal the tiny planet Mercury, which is at its best within the first two weeks of April.
Mercury reaches its greatest night look for the yr in April, and it’ll stay seen all through the month. The innermost planet passes some 8° due south of Hamal, the brightest star in Aries, on April sixth, then climbs to its best jap elongation 19° from the Solar on April 11. The planet dims to magnitude –0.1 throughout this era as its phase declines from 76 % to 39 % lit.
Later this month, on April 21, a crescent Moon joins Mercury low within the western sky. Look first or the Moon quickly after sundown. Nevertheless, at this level, Mercury can have light to magnitude 1.9 and will likely be troublesome to identify at decrease altitude, practically 9° due east of the Moon. The Moon is 12° excessive and Mercury is simply 5° above the horizon. (Be aware that magnitude 5.9 Uranus lies inside 4° of Mercury, however will probably be most difficult to identify except you’re observing from excessive elevation with completely clear air.)
For extra data on easy methods to spot Mercury, in addition to different planets seen this month, take a look at Sky this Month right here: https://astronomy.com/magazine/sky-this-month/2023/03/sky-this-month-april-2023
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