Over the next three weeks the sequence of close approaches to the Earth by the three plancets will provide sky-watchers with a few wonderful photo opportunities as well as the chance to see clearly the daily motion of the planets both with respect to each other and against the fixed stars.
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Oh, and if four planets isn’t fantastic enough for you, here’s another tip: For hardcore sky-gazers, Saturn will also appear in the evening twilight, with Space.com reporting that on October 16, Saturn “crosses over into the boundaries of Scorpius, having spent the late spring, summer and early fall in Libra”. With Mercury shining at a very bright magnitude of -0.6 (matching Canopus, the second brightest star in the sky), the planet will rise dawn breaks.
Rotating on its axis once every 59 Earth days, Mercury has the most extreme temperature variations in the solar system.
The real show, though, comes between Oct. 22 and Oct. 29.
Like Venus, Mercury’s appearance is always closely aligned with the Sunday.
Located 36 million miles from the Sun, Mercury travels at a speed of 30 miles per second and has an orbital period of 88 days. [Mercury Quiz: Do You Really Know This Planet?].
In the pre-Christian era, this planet actually had two names, as it was not realized it could alternately appear on one side of the sun and then the other. It was only in the fifth century BC when Pythagoras noted that Mercury and Apollo were one and the same. Just keep in mind to look up and watch out for these wonderful planets. The side facing the Sun can get as hot as 900 degrees F (482 degrees C) while that facing away from the Sun can plummet to -300 F (minus 184 C). This morning will be the best viewing of the conjunction.
Moreover, Rao describes Mercury to be similar to Venus and like the moon, goes through phases. By October 30, the planet will look brighter than every other star in the sky.
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On the morning of October 30. the innermost planet will appear next to the bluish colored star Spica in the constellation Virgo. “Spica, however, will be only appear about one-sixth as bright as Mercury, so you’ll probably need binoculars to spot it”.
