Mercury ?

[Charlie_132]

hello, is it possle to find mercury with a 130p telescope ?

i stayed up til 3:30 last night to see venus in the same position and it was blocked by trees, it appearered above some trees, but i couldnt get my telescope anywhere near it because of houses/trees ...

where is the best place to go to attempt to find it ?

is it visible by eye ?

also does anyone know what it will look like in a 130p scope ?

[DirkSteele]

Most definitely possible to see Mercury with a 130p. The apparent magnitude of Mercury can be as bright as -2 so easily visible with the naked eye. However....Mercury never strays very far from the Sun meaning it is only visible for a short while after Sunset or before Sunrise and can very quickly be lost in the brightness of a twilight sky. Around greatest elongation it should be fairly easy to spot 45 minutes or so after Sunset.

The planet presents an image which is generally white in colour and will show phases through a telescope just like Venus, though it is far less impressive due to much smaller apparent size (between 4.5 and 13 arc second diameter – Venus ranges from 9.5 to 66 arc seconds) and because it is only visible shortly after Sunset / before Sunrise it is always low on the horizon which means seeing conditions are rarely ideal. And that leads on to your final question about a suitable location. To give yourself the best chance, you need to go somewhere with a clear horizon (west if viewing in the evening / East if in the morning).

[bullettooth]

checking on stellarium its pretty low on the horizon about 5am. so you'l probs need to go somewhere with unobstructed views that far down. you should be able to see it naked eye and through a scope but it wont be much to luck at. as through a scope its just a disc of light not much detail on it at all.

[Charlie_132]

oh right okay then, i get a good view to the west, but how low on the horizon does it get in the evening ? and what time is best for vewng in the evening + how long is it about for ?

[JamesF]

If it's visible in the morning (as it is now), then it will set before the sun, so you'll not be able to see it in the evening. You'll need to wait until it's on the other side of its orbit for that. Otherwise it's the same game. It's visible very low in the sky, even with the naked eye, shortly after sunset.

If you look at the observing guides here: http://stargazerslounge.com/forum/57-observing-monthly-guides/ they'll often say when Mercury is at its greatest western or eastern elongation. On or around those dates are the best times to look for it (morning and evening respectively). The greatest western elongation has just passed (16th).

James

[Charlie_132]

thanks, thats very helpfull

is now the best time of year to view mercury during the morning ?

what is it like in the winter ?

im guessing it never changed position in the sky ?

[JamesF]

It swaps from morning to evening about every six weeks or thereabouts, I think, so you get three or four morning apparitions per year and three or four evening. Most of the time you can't see it because it's washed out by sunlight.

It's apparent position in the sky will change against the background stars as the Earth moves around its orbit (though you're unlikely ever to see them because the sky is still too bright at the times the planet can be seen), but Mercury will only ever be visible close to the horizon just before sunrise and just after sunset because of its proximity to the Sun.

There is one other occasion Mercury is visible and that's when it transits the sun. I think that happens every five to ten years. The next one is 9th May 2016 and it will be visible from western Europe, so expect heavy cloud that day.

James

[Charlie_132]

Oh okay, so if I get up at 04:30 and scan the sky low on the easten horizon, will I find it easily enough ?

Is it visible atall by eye if I look closely ?

(Sorry if I've posted this 3 times, my phone is playing up)

[JamesF]

I've never found it that hard to find by eye, but it's sufficiently small you could easily miss it, I guess. Might make sense to consult Stellarium to see where exactly it is going to be.

James

[John]

I find Mercury easier to pick out with 8x40 or 10x50 binoculars initially. Once you have it then you can usually spot it with the naked eye but it's just that first spot that can be tricky.

[Charlie_132]

I got up at 4:30 and looked out the window, waited til nmot jkust to realise there isa clear patch south east but then in the east and where venus and jupiter are .. That's covered in cloud! So annoying .. Guess I ll try again tomorrow.

To save myself a lot of time, should venus and jupiter still be very easy to see at 04:30 ? (If I can't. See them, then its too cloudy?)

[Charlie_132]

Should I still be able to see a lot of stars in the east sky at 4:30 or now even ? Because in the clear patch it is just a dark yellow ish colour