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Details:
Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury sit along the ecliptic in the early evening. The photo, taken at 9:26pm MDT just after civil twilight ended, shows Mercury at 24.5° from the Sun, 10.5° above the theoretical horizon, and ~8° above the hilltops. Although its greatest distance from the Sun occurs on Jun 15, it only manages to get 0.5° farther away from it, while by Jun 12 it maxes out its altitude at 13°. (These figures are for our latitude of +37°.) Mercury and Alhena are about the same altitude, but with Mercury moving up in the sky and Alhena moving down, that won't last long.
#1: the planetary lineup (relative to the horizon at 9:26pm)
#2: panorama showing the lineup relative to the Arch of Spring multi-constellation asterism
Photo data:
Panasonic G9, Lumix 20mm lens, photo tripod
... (f/1.7, 1/8 second, ISO 200)
... date: Jun 2, 2026 9:26pm MDT (sunset: 8:50pm)
Photographer's website:
No URL provided.
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