Mercury Greatest Eastern Elongation 2013 Feb. 16; Planet to Make Bright Appearance in Night Sky
Stargazers will be able to view the planet Mercury, the innermost planet in the solar system, at its greatest eastern elongation period when it will be at its furthest angle from the sun on Feb. 16.
Mercury will put on a brief but very bright appearance during early to mid-February when it shines at magnitude -0.6 where a small telescope will reveal its tiny disk exactly half illuminated, according to Fourmilab Switzerland's Mercury Chasers Calculator.
During each day early in the month of February, the planet will climb a little higher, and on Feb. 8 it will pass just above pale orange Mars, according to Sky & Telescope.
Mercury will even be eight times brighter than Mars and its visibility will continue to improve until Feb. 16, when it will be at greatest elongation from the sun and appear 11 degrees above the west-southwestern horizon.
Binoculars or a small telescope may be needed to find it in the glare of twilight, but it should be visible a half-hour after sunset. The small planet will be at its highest point in the night sky after sunset as this is the best time to try to view Mercury since it stays so close to the Sun and doesn't usually climb very high above the horizon.
Afterward it will drop back toward the sun and will rapidly dim before sinking below the western horizon.
As the evening sky darkens Mercury will appear low in the west-southwest for observers at mid-northern latitudes.
The elliptical orbit of the planet Mercury takes it as close as 29 million miles to the sun. Since Mercury is so close to the sun, it is hard to directly observe from Earth except during twilight, according to National Geographic Magazine.
