Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Mercury farthest from setting sun all week (Jan 10-18, 2015)

 Mercury at greatest elongation from setting sun on January 14 Read more

Mercury farthest from setting sun on Jan 14, 2015.
look toward SSW (~220degs)
Venus & Mercury
within a knuckle-length of a fully extended arm
Sunset about 4:45PM (all week)

Viewed & Recommended by Jeff [W7EIR] & LW [K7LWA]

from EarthSky.org:
"Tonight – or any night this week – look for Mercury, our solar system’s innermost planet. As dusk gives way to darkness on these mid-January 2015 evenings, the dazzling planet Venus can help guide you. Mercury reaches its greatest eastern elongation (greatest distance from the sun on the sky’s dome) on January 14. With Mercury near Venus – the sky’s third-brightest object after the sun and moon – Mercury is unusually easy to find after sunset now.

First and foremost, find an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunset. Around 45 minutes after sundown, or possibly earlier, look for the brilliant Venus to pop out near the sunset point on the horizon. Mercury will appear near Venus about 15 to 25 minutes after that, or about 60 to 75 minutes after sunset. Don’t delay, though, because Mercury and Venus set about 90 minutes after the sun at mid-northern latitudes...."
See all five visible planets in January 2015

Posted by PSRG FUN BLOG at 1/14/2015 06:00 PM