Who has seen the elusive planet Mercury ?

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Now might be the time to view the planet after the sun sets with your telescope or binoculars. There is some information on thespacesite.com and the washingtonpost.com about it, the elusive planet Mercury can be seen in the west but be careful of the Sun.

it will be at the greatest eastern elongation on the 12th of March

Who has seen this Planet ?

I look forward to seeing the planet up-close from NASA's Messenger craft, I think Europe ESA and Japan might also be thinking of going there

[the_shaggy_one]

I've seen it! Never with a telescope, mostly because I don't own one. I should fix that.

[Wolverine]

It's covered in this week's Sky at a Glance, but I see nothing but clouds and rain in my future. Again.

[Glom]

I haven't seen it with an aid, but I have seen it a few times naked eye. One time on a flight back from America (possibly from Miami), there was a great dawn as we arrived in London airspace and I had a good view of Venus and Mercury fading against the sunrise. That was cool. It would be nice to have a similar thing this Easter when returning from Houston 777 style.

[Hamlet]

I've seen it a couple of times. It can be difficult to find in the twilight glare, but it's worth the effort just because it's so elusive.

[ToSeek]

I saw it for the first time just a year or so ago. (I have to make a special effort where we are to find a good view of the western horizon.)

[A Thousand Pardons]

I've seen Mercury many times. If you know when to look, it's easy. It's not elusive at all. I've seen it from a crowded, light-polluted parking lot, with hazy skies.

Make sure to look for it on the 11th, next to the new crescent moon, about three or four degrees away.

[cyswxman]

I've seen it, both with binocs and naked eye (I don't have a 'scope ).

[Ilya]

Last year I saw it for the first time. Actually, I probably had seen it before, but did not know what I was looking at.

[tlbs101]

Along with several other posters, here, I also saw it for the first time (knowingly) last year with the naked eye, and binoculars.

I made it a point to show other friends, also, telling them that only about 1% of the people on the Earth have seen Mercury.

[Romanus]

I've seen Mercury only twice. The first time it was barely glimpsed very low on the horizon, through considerable haze. The second time, I had the benefit of binoculars, without which it would have been impossible to see. This bad boy is quite a challange for the five bright planets, IMO; most amateur astronomers who are serious about observing this planet take it on in the daytime, when it's well above the horizon.

[A Thousand Pardons]

I made it a point to show other friends, also, telling them that only about 1% of the people on the Earth have seen Mercury.

That's not quite true. Most people have seen it, they just didn't know it.

I've seen Mercury only twice. The first time it was barely glimpsed very low on the horizon, through considerable haze. The second time, I had the benefit of binoculars, without which it would have been impossible to see. This bad boy is quite a challange for the five bright planets, IMO; most amateur astronomers who are serious about observing this planet take it on in the daytime, when it's well above the horizon.

No way. At certain times of the year--when it is not obscured by the sun--it is very easy to see after dark. Over the next week, Mercury sets over an hour after the sun sets. Tonight, from my home, it will be over 9 degrees above the horizon even after the end of civil twilight, and it will be magnitude minus one. I wouldn't be able to miss it--if I were looking directly west.

[Eroica]

I've seen Mercury many times. If you know when to look, it's easy. It's not elusive at all.

I agree. When I first saw it, I was surprised how high above the horizon it was. Nine degrees is quite a large angle, and it's often higher than that.

[The Bad Astronomer]

Remember the Looming Moon Effect-- things look bigger on the horizon. So 9 degrees is substantial.

Mercury is a fine object through a telescope. Just don't expect to see detail! The crescent can be quite lovely, and the shimmering effects from atmospheric turbulence are pretty too.

And yeah, I've seen Mercury many times. The only planet I haven't seen with my own eyes is Pluto (Uranus and Neptune I saw when I was in high school with my old 10" Newtonian). We observed Pluto with out school telescope last year, but we used a CCD (a digital camera).

[crosscountry]

I've seen it on occasion. I always make it a point to look for it when viewing is favorable. probably 3-4 times. (orbits I mean). I've seen it probably 15 times, but 5 nights in a row hardly counts.


through a telescope there is not much to see. it is low on the horizon so lots of refraction. I usually get lots of colors. maybe that's my eyepiece. It's actually so small that the crescent is hard to focus, but it is noticeable.


good luck finding it!!! it's definitly inspiring.

[umop ap!sdn]

Sometime last year or the year before I saw Mercury after sunset. My parents and I had gone out to look for it, and it was more obvious to me than to them because of differences in visual acuity. Also saw it through binoculars. May have seen it before (knowingly) I'm not sure.

Also seen Uranus through my 8" Dob, well enough IIRC to see a little bit of coloration.

[Padawan]

I've seen it, but only once.

[Kaptain K]

I've seen it (unaided) several times. The last time was a dawn apparition. I was able to track it until the sky was quite bright.

... I see nothing but clouds and rain in my future. Again.

Ain't it the truth! I've seen the stars maybe 4 or 5 times since mid-November!

FWIW - I have seen Uranus without optical aid (after I found it with binoculars) and Neptune through 7x50 binoculars!

[um3k]

Saw it yesterday!

[The Bad Astronomer]

Yeah, it was pretty obvious last night (now that the rain has finally cleared here for a while). I'm looking forward to seeing it again tonight, and showing some other folks too.

[Wolverine]

Ain't it the truth! I've seen the stars maybe 4 or 5 times since mid-November!

Whoa, wait a minute... what's this block of blue stuff creeping into my signature? Think we'll actually get a window for a change?

[frogesque]

I took a trip to my favourite beach this afternoon at Elie in Fife and had a good clear view of Mercury from first starlight 'till it almost touched the horizon. Must have stood watching it for the best part of an hour. Later on I also caught Iridium 81 at mag -5. Nice end to a beautiful sunny day.

[John Kierein]

You shouldn't be taught about Mercury. Mercury is being removed from schools.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...chools_mercury

[The Bad Astronomer]

It's only being removed from the labs. They'll probably keep it in the textbooks... with a disclaimer.

I saw Mercury again tonight, this time while the sky was still pretty light. My 15x70 binocs helped. 8)

[Charlie in Dayton]

IF the sky stays clear and IF Norm shows up to give me a bit of a break, Mercury should be an easy catch from the west-facing eighth floor lounge here at SBA Central on the campus of The Major Midwestern Metropolitan College Of Higher Knowledge...that 10x25 monocular I keep in my ready bag oughtta be just right.

And for those who have a clear horizon (inportant part) and want to know how high off the horizon Mercury will be, 9 degrees is just a shade under a fist width at arm's length.

****************************
Handy tips for measuring angles in the sky

One full moon = ½ degree. Two full moons side-by-side = 1 degree.

Generally speaking, if we hold our little finger out at arm's length, the distance it blocks out is approximately one degree.

When we hold the thumb up at arm's length from the eye, the distance covered is approximately two degrees.

If we use the first three fingers (index and the next two – Boy Sprout salute-style), the distance covered is approximately five degrees.

If we hold our closed fist at arm's length from our eye, the distance covered is about 10 degrees across the knuckles (about 2.5 degrees from knuckle to knuckle).

The distance between the index finger and the little finger when they are spread wide at arm's length is about fifteen degrees.

The distance between the thumb and the little finger spread wide at arm's length from our eye is about 20 degrees (as is two closed fists side-by-side across the knuckles).

These measurements stay constant, as a human's arm will grow in length in proportion to the growth in length/width of hands and digits.

********************************
See here for a quick graphic primer on this and other measurement techniques.

[AstroSmurf]

I saw it during this weekend's star party. Very nice and clear evening, so it was over the horizon long enough to become naked-eye visible. Showed a discernible disc in a 4" refractor - surprisingly, this instrument gave the best view of those I tested.

[badchap]

I saw Mercury a few weeks ago (January) in the early hours of the morning, on my way home from work..it was around 5 am-ish..it was sitting close to Venus. Looked pretty.
I had thought it might have been Mercury, and checked my trusty astronomy yearbook when I got home, to verify my guess was correct

[cyswxman]

I've seen it the last couple of nights here. Seems brighter than usual.

[Bad Dr Galaxy]

Ironically, the only time I know I spotted it was years ago at Kitt Peak. After a long night, I was walking down to the cafeteria just as dawn was breaking. I was facing east with a clear sky and a deep, unobscured horizon. And there it was. It was too bright and close to be anything else, and anyway, I checked in the Nautical Almanac later Now that it has stopped pouring rain here, I'll check it out tonight.

[frogesque]

Ok, here's the pics taken this evening.

Be warned though, they are big files 1.0 - 1.3MB each

#12

#24

#33

Canon D60 digital, ASA400, f1.4, exposures varied from 0.3 sec to 1.0 sec.

Edit: User friendly detail of #33