Help seeing Mercury

[Sam1234]

Hi.  I've been reading that, this week, Mercury is supposed to be at its very brightest all year in the dawn sky.  Therefore, if you just go out early enough and look in the right direction, it should be reasonable to expect to get a glimpse of Mercury.  While all that sounds great on paper, in reality, it feels like a cruel joke.  😜

Where I live (in the Southern U.S.), sunrise occurs at about 7:30 a.m.  Anyway, this morning, I went outside at about 6:30 a.m., and stayed for around 20 minutes.  I live in a rural area, so in theory, I should be able to see Mercury.  The skies were completely clear as well.  I also have a decent pair of 10x50 binoculars, which I can even see Neptune (faintly) with.  Furthermore, I knew pretty much where to look—low in the sky, slightly to the right of due east.  

But where Mercury is concerned, this morning I couldn't see jack. 🤔  It seems to me that at about 6:45 a.m. (45 minutes before sunrise at my location), the dawn glare becomes bright enough that you can't make out anything close to the horizon.   

So . . . is it really possible for a "normal" observer to see Mercury in the dawn sky this week, or is it all just polite fiction?     And if it is possible, why haven't I been able to see it yet?  And what could I do differently the next few mornings in order to be able to see it?  

Thanks for any helpful tips.  

Edited October 6, 2022 by Sam1234

[Nik271]

Ideally the sun should be about 10 degrees below the horizon for the eastern sky to be dark enough to spot Mercury.

you are right, this week is good: The greatest elongation is 18 degrees this weekend, so Mercury will be nearly 8 degrees up an hour before sunset. I've seen it several times with binoculars, but it is never easy. Check an online program like stellarium.org, it will give you precise alt az coordinates to look at your location at any specific time.

[Sam1234]

Thanks for your help, Nik271.  🙂

Okay, I did it!!!  I finally saw Mercury this morning—I went out about an hour ago, and stayed for nearly half an hour.  And I was shocked at how EASY it was to see!  🤯

Apparently I'd been doing a couple of things wrong:

1) Yesterday, I thought I was looking due east, when in fact I was looking somewhat north of due east.  So, I looked online at some live star charts to help nail down the location of due east.

2) I was actually expecting Mercury to be lower in the sky than it was—almost hugging the horizon.  But it wasn't—it in fact rose a good bit higher than I was ever expecting.

Anyway, it seems that yesterday morning, I actually DID see Mercury, but mistook it for some star instead.  Sunrise where I live is at about 7:30 a.m., and this morning I went out at around 6:25 a.m.  I saw Mercury right away, and it gradually kept getting brighter.  I was looking way too close to the horizon yesterday, thinking the glare of dawn was washing out my view, but that really wasn't the case at all.

I was also surprised at how bright Mercury was.  Hey, I tell you what—if I can see Mercury this easily, anybody can.  🤩  Hope to see it the next few mornings as well.  Next time, I think I'll trot out my FunScope too.  🔭

Guess all's well that ends well!  😉

Edited October 7, 2022 by Sam1234

[allworlds]

Nicely done. Yeah I remember from some other observing that stuff in the sky often seems higher than I expect. So far the only time I've seen Mercury was in one of the transits though.

[Sam1234]

On 07/10/2022 at 10:00, allworlds said:

Nicely done.

Thanks, allworlds.

 

On 07/10/2022 at 10:00, allworlds said:

So far the only time I've seen Mercury was in one of the transits though.

Well, maybe eventually I'll move up to that skill as well. 

Unfortunately, because of clouds, I couldn't see Mercury yesterday morning, and it looks like the same thing is happening this morning too.  🤨  Oh, well—I read that Mercury should be reasonably visible in the morning for about the first three weeks of October.

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Sam1234

[Moon-Monkey]

Interesting to read mercury is on my list of things I haven’t observed and don’t get me wrong I know the lack of observable detail in less than perfect conditions is non existent however I will try my luck one morning 😉

[Sam1234]

Quote

On 09/10/2022 at 06:20, Moon-Monkey said:

Interesting to read mercury is on my list of things I haven’t observed and don’t get me wrong I know the lack of observable detail in less than perfect conditions is non existent however I will try my luck one morning

If you hope to see it this month, Moon-Monkey, then it's probably best to try this week.  😉

I spotted Mercury again this morning.  I didn't make it outside until about 6:45 a.m., but there it was, shining politely and just waiting for me.   😇   The view was actually supposed to be best a little after 7 a.m., so I came inside for about ten minutes to get some stuff done.  But then when I went back outside, seemingly out of nowhere, a web of clouds had obscured the view!!!  🤮  Thankfully, they came in and out, so I still got a few more glimpses of Mercury, but they were pretty spotty.

Anyway, where Mercury is concerned—as with so many things in life—the moral of the story seems to be: if you have a good view of it, thank your lucky stars.  🤩   And don't necessarily assume that you'll have another good one in the near future, because it might not even be there ten minutes later, much less the next morning.  🤔

Edited October 11, 2022 by Sam1234

[Owmuchonomy]

It is also visible in the evening sky just before Xmas. Greatest elongation is on 21st December.

[Sam1234]

On 11/10/2022 at 02:10, Owmuchonomy said:

It is also visible in the evening sky just before Xmas. Greatest elongation is on 21st December.

 

Thanks for the info, Owmuchonomy.  Isn't it also supposed to be visible in the evening sky in April too?  Just curious—in the Northern Hemisphere at least, are the evening views as good as the morning ones?   🤔

Well, after several days, I finally got a perfectly clear morning.  Saw Mercury again about half an hour ago, easy-breezy.    I'm fortunate to have a mostly unobstructed view of the eastern horizon, allowing you to see this planet within about ten minutes of its rising.  I actually prefer the views when Mercury is lower and the sky is darker, but it's still pretty easy to see—at least with binoculars—once it's risen a good bit higher and sunrise is only about half an hour away.

Don't know how long these gorgeous views of Mercury are going to last 🤩 , but I plan to keep trying to spot it each morning for at least the next week or so.  

Edited October 14, 2022 by Sam1234

[Spile]

Finding Mercury is easier with binoculars than the naked eye for me.

[Sam1234]

On 14/10/2022 at 16:02, Spile said:

Finding Mercury is easier with binoculars than the naked eye for me.

 

Yes, I definitely agree, especially since the sky is not usually completely dark. 

Anyway, for us folks in the Northern Hemisphere at least, it looks like the 22nd is the last day this month that Mercury will be visible as a dawn object.  I was just thankful that, this morning, she showed up again right on cue.     With a clear sky, she's still quite easy to see—at least in my neck of the woods.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Sam1234

[Sam1234]

This is kind of funny.  According to timeanddate.com, for my location, Mercury was "not visible" this morning.  Well, I just saw it a little while ago—even with a bit of cloud cover!  😁  Now, it wasn't easy to make out, and I definitely needed binoculars, but it was still visible.  So, I guess you have to take what you read there with a grain of salt.  🧂

I suspect this is the last time, though, that Mercury will be observable in the morning this month.  It seems that we now have to wait about a couple of months for it to start showing up in the evening skies.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Sam1234

[maw lod qan]

I've seen it in the evening, but haven't tried in the morning.

I remember reading that it is a difficult target being so close to the Sun and that due to their location, some astronomers never see it. 

Is that true?

[impactcrater]

I had a lovely view of Mercury a few years back after a media heads-up. It was just before sunset in summer in the south western sky. The sun is in the south here in summer. I looked at it thru my scope and was surprised how high it was and how big and bright it was. Mostly it is in the western sky at sunset and I do not have that view. 

I also was surprised to learn you can see Neptune so I will try for it when it is in the right spot for me.

I am near Sydney Australia.

Happy sky hunting!

[PeterW]

Best start when it’s in a very favourable elongation and when the moon is close, so you can focus your eyes properly and know the direction. I’ve seen it a number of times from urban locations, so it’s possible, but never for very long, you need to be aware. December is the next opportunity, but it’ll be low as the ecliptic is not tilted far from the horizon.

 

peter

[johnturley]

11 hours ago, impactcrater said:

 

I also was surprised to learn you can see Neptune so I will try for it when it is in the right spot for me.

I am near Sydney Australia.

Happy sky hunting!

Neptune is currently magnitude 7.8, so you require binoculars or a small telescope to see it.

It is situated in Aquarius so from Australia it will be high up in the northern sky mid evening, transiting at around 9 pm local time. 

John 

[impactcrater]

Thanks JT....the weather here has been a misery as you might well know....overcast and wet wet wet....wettest year on record and still some time to go. Jupiter is gorgeous at present and Saturn now high in the sky.  I have see Uranus once and it was a pretty blue.

[Gfamily]

Whether planets are easy to see in the morning or the evening often depends on the angle that the ecliptic makes to the horizon. If the ecliptic is at a shallow angle, the planets won't be high above the horizon and are more likely to be lost in the twilight of the rising/setting sun.

Here's the angle of the morning/evening ecliptic for my location in NW England in February and November - this from a couple of years ago - the planets visible in any specific year will vary of course. 

So, morning apparitions of Mercury are better in the Autumn and evening apparitions better in the Spring. 

(stellarium views)

Edited November 3, 2022 by Gfamily
(stellarium views)