Mercury - times to see?

Mercury - times to see?

Hi all can someone please tell me the best times to see Mercury from the
south of the UK this year. Also is there a website that shows me the 'Sky
at Night' for all of the year with plant positions etc

Thanks
DAVE
UK Bristol

www.heavens-above.com
"DAVE PRICE" wrote in message
...
Mercury - times to see?

Hi all can someone please tell me the best times to see Mercury from
the
south of the UK this year. Also is there a website that shows me the
'Sky
at Night' for all of the year with plant positions etc

Thanks
DAVE
UK Bristol

The best time to see Mercury this year was last week but you can still see
it lower down in the sky straight after sunset.

Check out our Stargazers page at www.eaas.co.uk where we have links to an
online realtime star chart, lunar phases which also gives details on Venus
and Mercury positions and more.

Thanks


Mark Stronge
EAAS Chairman

"DAVE PRICE" wrote in message
...
Mercury - times to see?

Hi all can someone please tell me the best times to see Mercury from
the south of the UK this year. Also is there a website that shows me the
'Sky at Night' for all of the year with plant positions etc

Thanks
DAVE
UK Bristol




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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

DAVE PRICE requested:

Mercury - times to see?

Hi all can someone please tell me the best times to see Mercury from
the south of the UK this year. ...


Because Mercury dwells within Earth's orbit, the question "When is
Mercury best seen?" has a more complicated answer than for planets
outside our orbit. You have a choice of optimum viewing circumstances:

Greatest elongation -- the maximum angular distance from the Sun.

Greatest heliacal altitude -- the maximum angular distance above the
horizon at sunrise or sunset (the exact date of which is a function of
the observer's geographic latitude).

Greatest illuminated extent -- the maximum amount of apparent sunlit
area on the planet's disk (i.e., the moment when the planet's visible
portion has greatest coverage on the observer's retina).

Greatest magnitude -- the moment of maximum total brightness (which is
often distinct from the moment of maximum surface brightness).


During any particular apparition of Mercury or Venus, these optimum
circumstances don't, in general, occur close together in time.

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Mark Gingrich San Leandro, California