The last Saturday of March 2017 had beautiful weather that coincided with an open house at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory. Mercury was a week away from being at its greatest elongation East and was high in the sky. It also was the day of Venus' inferior conjunction with the Sun and we were actually able to view it minutes after the Sun set. If you have not attended one of these open houses it is well worth the experience. As members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada we have the opportunity to share our telescopes with the public. Watching someone view Jupiter or Saturn for the first time is an amazing experience.
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| Volunteering at the RAO |
The Explore the Universe certificate requires an observation of all the planets (excluding Earth). I had waited a year for the opportunity to view Mercury and it did not disappoint. Around 20:18 I observed a bright red disk in the twilight sky just a little over 10° above the horizon. I only had my 8" untracked reflector so was limited in exposure time to about 1 second. The image below is what I managed to capture.
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| Mercury - March 25, 2017 |
Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System. Sorry, Pluto is not a planet, it is a dwarf planet. However, there are two moons in the Solar System larger than Mercury. Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede and Saturn's largest Titan beat out Mercury by a couple hundred kilometers in diameter. However, Mercury has both of them beat by mass. The gravity on Mercury is considered to be about 38% that of Earth.
Keep an eye on our blog for times throughout the year when Mercury will be easy to observe.
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