THIS MONTH’S PLANETS
The far-flung ice giants make for easy pickings as we ring in the New Year
PLANET OF THE MONTH
Mercury is our planet of the month this issue, not just because it will be bright and easy to see after sunset, but because there will be so much going on around it in the sky. Mercury is often described as being elusive and hard to see, and it’s true that a surprising number of amateur astronomers have never seen it, but in reality it’s not really that hard to see. Although it never shines as brightly as Venus, little Mercury is easy to see with the naked eye when it is at its best, and once you’ve found it you’ll find your eye can pick it out again very easily.
Mercury is challenging to see because it is the closest planet to the Sun, so it never appears to stray very far from the Sun in the sky. Consequently, we only ever see Mercury in the twilight for a short time, sometimes before sunrise and sometimes after sunset. This month Mercury will be an evening star, and although it will be bright enough to be clearly visible to the naked eye, it will be low in the sky to the southwest, so you’ll need to have a clear horizon in that direction to see it properly.