Very Low Mercury
Taken by Helio C. Vital on April 3, 2017 @
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Camera Used: Unavailable Unavailable
Exposure Time: Unavailable
Aperture: Unavailable
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Date Taken: Unavailable
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Details:
This current elongation of Mercury has been very unfavorable for observers in the Southern Hemisphere mainly due to three reasons: (1) the current maximum eastern elongation of the planet was only 18.9° because it happened just 8 days after the perihelium of the planet; (2) the ecliptic is currently intersecting the western horizon at sunset at a relatively shallow angle (about 45° for Rio); (3) in addition, Mercury is presently 3° north of the ecliptic. All these factors add up to keep the elusive planet very low at evening twilight as seen from the Southern Hemisphere. This 24-frame animation was made from a 1-minute video recorded with a Canon PowerShot SX60 camera at 18:09 UTC-3h. It shows Mercury just before hiding behind a nearby building at an altitude of 5.8°and azimuth of 289.1° half an hour before it set. The planet was only 18.7° from the Sun and 9.9° above Rio`s horizon at sundown. The first ten seconds of the animation show the apparent motion of Mercury due to Earth`s rotation. Note the relatively small angle formed between its path and the vertical, corresponding to Rio`s 23° southern latitude. Then the image is zoomed out to give a better idea of the location of the planet (not visible to the naked eye) on the skyline. Crepuscular rays add to the display.
Photographer's website:
http://https://www.flickr.com/helio_c_vital
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