When the sun sets in March, stargazers are about to have their best chance at seeing the first planet in the solar system twinkle in the night sky.
On Friday, March 7, at twilight, Mercury should be visible in the western sky just after sunset, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. The rocky planet should be at its greatest distance from the sun and its brightness, 18 degrees east of the sun.
Mercury should also be visible at a magnitude of –0.4, easy to see without binoculars or a telescope, the Almanac wrote.
A celestial object’s stellar magnitude describes how bright that object looks in the night sky, with the brightest stars being seen at a magnitude of 1, EarthSky reported. Objects with a negative magnitude appear much brighter without the need for a telescope, according to NASA.
Mercury should be easy to spot for an hour and a half after the sun sets, Space.com reported. But by March 12, the planet should appear at its closest point in the night sky to its nearest planetary neighbor, Venus. Due to Venus’ brightness, Mercury’s magnitude will drop to 0.7.
Mercury’s brightness will further descend until March 15, where it reaches a magnitude of 1.6 as brighter sunsets will leave Mercury almost invisible for the rest of the month, Space.com wrote.
Binoculars viewed toward Venus could help spot the innermost planet, “but for all intents and purposes it will be gone by St. Patrick’s Day,” the space website stated.
