This article discusses the upcoming conjunction of the moon and Mercury, visible from certain locations on December 28th and 29th. It explains the phenomenon, the ideal viewing conditions, and specific times and locations where the conjunction can be observed.
Jam packed issues filled with the latest cutting-edge research, technology and theories delivered in an entertaining and visually stunning way, aiming to educate and inspire readers of all agesblue moonshare the same celestial longitude, a position also called conjunction. You can't see the moon during this phase from Earth because the illuminated side is facing away from us; only during solar eclipses do new moons make themselves visible.
From Cape Town, the viewing is little better because the austral summer means that the sun rises earlier, at 5:36 a.m., so the conjunction happens after sunrise. Mercury rises there at 4:12 a.m. local time and the moon at 3:48 a.m. The pair will be about 10 degrees high by 5:00 a.m. with the moon above and to the right of Mercury.On the night of the new moon itself, Mercury will be just visible in the dawn skies on Dec. 31, rising at 5:45 a.m. in New York. Sunrise isn't until 7:20 a.m.
Looking left, above Orion's head, one sees Auriga, the Charioteer. To find it, look for Orion's Belt, then for Betelgeuse, the Hunter's right shoulder . Betelgeuse is recognizable as it is visibly reddish-orange. By 11 p.m. Leo the Lion has fully risen; one can spot it by looking for Sirius which by that point is in the south-southeast. Turn to the left and upwards; one will see Procyon. Continue left from Procyon and downwards slightly until one is facing nearly due east; one should be able to see Regulus, or Alpha Leonis, also called Cor Leonis, the Heart of the Lion. Regulus is at the bottom of a sickle-shaped group of stars that is Leo's head and mane.
Rigel, meanwhile, is upwards and to the left, and this time when one follows the River from Cursa, one goes across the sky through the zenith to a point a full 64 degrees high in the southeast, to Achernar. If one usesas"pointers" one can draw a line between them southwards and above that line is the bright Canopus, the brightest star in Carina, the Ship's Keel, about 47 degrees high in the southeast.
SPACE NEWS ASTRONOMY PLANETARY CONJUNCTION MOON MERCURY
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