This month’s planets
Fleeting planet Mercury is at prime viewing in the morning sky alongside dazzling Venus
Planet of the month
If you’ve never seen Mercury - and there are plenty of astronomers, even experienced ones, who haven’t - November is your chance! The closest planet to the Sun moves out to greatest western elongation - when it appears at its greatest distance to the west of the Sun - on the morning of 10 November. Throughout the beginning of November it improves in brightness and visibility in the predawn sky. On the morning of 10 November Mercury will be 11 degrees above the horizon in the darker skies at 06:30 before reaching 15 degrees by 07:10, just before sunrise.