Can I see past the next hill?

[K-AngeL]

Can anyone please tell me how to work out if I can see past the next hill to the horizon?

Basically I want to try and get a good view of mercury and venus but I live in Wales and have 2 ranges of hills between me and the western horizon. I can drive up a hill in the range closest to me but there is always going to be another hill between me and the horizon. How can I work out if I am high enough and/or far enough away from the second range to see over them to the horizon.

[Chris H]

You can see Venus and Mercury without being able to see the horizon. Tonight I viewed both but the trees and houses west of me block out atleast 10 degrees of the sky. If you go up the hill and the next doesn't tower above you then you should be fine.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Last evening i observed BOTH from the comfort of my couch. They were both pretty high up in the sky above the houses oppopsite mine.

I have NEVER seen Mercury before. I thought you needed a clear horizon out to the west to be able to see it.

Right now (not RIGHT NOW) if you can see Venus to the west from your location....................you will also see Mercury.

8-8:30PM worked for me.

[Rui]

Yes, normally if you go to a hill top, the other hills shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, if you don't see Venus, try to look for it earlier in the evening with binoculars. It'll be easy than you think.

[lostinspace]

you could google ordinance servey or google earth and that shoulld tell you your highest hill (locally), i would think you should be better off as you would gain horizon, you could be lucky and have it rise between two hills...?

a new phone may do this job too...?

sorry if i misled about the horizon thing ( please feel free to correct me) but if you are on the highest hill then wouldnt you be looking down slightly giving an earlier view of things?

agian sorry if im talking waffle, been awake for half hour and need coffee,

john

[MG1]

If you're not already usi g any, try downloading a free simulation program such as Stellarium. That was you can world out how high in the sky they will be.

[K-AngeL]

Thanks for the encouragement. We downloaded Stellarium and Mercury seemed quite high from the hill we'd picked. We went up there thurs night and got a beautiful view of venus and eventually mercury as the sky darkened. Thanks again for convincing me that just going up the hill was worth a shot.

[brantuk]

Great stuff - well done with Mercury - it's a rare sight cos it's usually washed out by the sun and there's little chance to see it most of the time - I've waited about 3yrs lol