Mercury and Venus in the summer sky

6 years ago
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Mercury will be well placed for observation in the evening sky, shining brightly at mag -0.4.
14 Mar 2018 13:59 Mercury at dichotomy
15 Mar 2018 15:18 Mercury at greatest elongation east
01 Apr 2018 22:47 Mercury at inferior solar conjunction

Venus will be well placed for observation in the evening sky, shining brightly at mag -4.4.
Venus's orbit lies closer to the Sun than the Earth's, meaning that it always appears close to the Sun and is very difficult to observe most of the time. It is observable only for a few weeks each time it reaches greatest separation from the Sun – moments referred to as greatest elongation. On these occasions, however, Venus is so bright and conspicuous that it becomes the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. It is often called the morning or evening star. These apparitions take place alternately in the morning and evening skies, depending whether Venus lies to the east of the Sun or to the west.

The moment at which the video plays at normal speed Mercury is at the top and Venus is below and the brightest evening star.

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