Don't forget: you can click on an image to enlarge it!

Monday 25 February 2019

Mercury!

If you haven't seen Mercury yet (and you're not averse to a spot of astronomy!) you really should take a look: it's hardly ever this easy to glimpse! As soon as it starts to get dusky (say 6.15) look towards the western horizon and Mercury is more or less the only 'star' you'll see. Even with my 300mm prime I had no problem photographing the tiny planet's phase last night: like a small crescent Moon!

In the southern sky, Mars is still a bright object, while Venus, Saturn and Jupiter are still visible just before dawn. (If you know where to look, Uranus is visible as a small greenish object just to the west of Mars.) Last thing of interest: the Moon and Jupiter will be very close on Wednesday morning: through even a small telescope you should be able to see some of Jupiter's four large satellites.

So if you make the effort, you could see seven of the eight planets of the Solar System this week!


No comments: