Mercury - Visible at dawn here, but dusk down under. Why?

[Swithin StCleeve]

I've never worried about asking stupid questions on SL before, so I won't start now, (insert smiley here!)

In October's Astronomy Now magazine (which arrived two days ago), it tells me Mercury is viewable from the UK next month at dawn, and highest on 24th Oct. Yet on the Southern Sky page, it says it's visible at dusk.
I can't get my head round that. Venus is an 'evening star' in both north and south hemispheres in October, so why isn't Mercury?

Edited September 18, 2021 by Swithin StCleeve

[Paul M]

That'll be a typo then. If Mercury is following following the sun in the N/H then it'll be following the Sun in the S/H. Else there would be some strange goings on for equatorial observers!

All that changes is the angle the ecliptic makes with your local horizon. So a good (higher above the horizon) apparition in the N/H will be a poor apparition in the S/H and vice versa.

[Swithin StCleeve]

My thoughts exactly! 
Both hemispheres spin in the same direction, so the order of appearance of planets would be the same. You'd just see them from different angles, and at different times. It's a pretty big typo if it is one, because it clearly says mercury is "glimpsed over the western horizon after sunset" in the southern sky in October.  

[Stu]

Yep, view from U.K. and Sydney Aus at sunset just to show Paul’s point about the ecliptic.

[Swithin StCleeve]

I'm wondering if - because of Mercury's close proximity to the Sun, and the changing angle of the north/south view - it might well be a fact that Mercury could be a morning object in the southern sky for the majority of the month, and a morning object in the north for the majority of that month. 
I might not be an observable morning object in the south, but technically, it appears above the horizon before the sun, in the same month when it's a morning object in the UK.
But even so, it just doesn't seem right.

 

[Froeng]

4 hours ago, Swithin StCleeve said:

I've never worried about asking stupid questions on SL before, so I won't start now, (insert smiley here!)

In October's Astronomy Now magazine (which arrived two days ago), it tells me Mercury is viewable from the UK next month at dawn, and highest on 24th Oct. Yet on the Southern Sky page, it says it's visible at dusk.
I can't get my head round that. Venus is an 'evening star' in both north and south hemispheres in October, so why isn't Mercury?

There! It is proof the Earth is flat! The apparent motion of the planets are an illusion created by a superior intelligence that is controlling all of us…

Mmh, maybe I had too much Pasta for lunch just know…

🌝

[Tiny Clanger]

7 minutes ago, Froeng said:

There! It is proof the Earth is flat! The apparent motion of the planets are an illusion created by a superior intelligence that is controlling all of us…

Mmh, maybe I had too much Pasta for lunch just know…

🌝

Ah, that explains it , especially the pasta bit ... it's the work of the all-seeing Flying Spaghetti Monster https://www.spaghettimonster.org/

Pastafarianism has been denied state recognition in Australia, apparently, This is probably his noodly revenge.

[johnturley]

5 hours ago, Swithin StCleeve said:

I've never worried about asking stupid questions on SL before, so I won't start now, (insert smiley here!)

In October's Astronomy Now magazine (which arrived two days ago), it tells me Mercury is viewable from the UK next month at dawn, and highest on 24th Oct. Yet on the Southern Sky page, it says it's visible at dusk.
I can't get my head round that. Venus is an 'evening star' in both north and south hemispheres in October, so why isn't Mercury?

I think what they might be saying in October's Astronomy Now magazine (Incidentally I haven't received my copy yet), is that Mercury might be visible as an evening star from the southern hemisphere for the first few days of October (prior to inferior conjunction), and then visible as a morning star from the northern hemisphere later in the month, greatest elongation west occurring around the 24th. 

Edited September 18, 2021 by johnturley