Morning sky is the best time to track planets’ paths

Look up between Oct. 24 and Oct. 29 to see the planetary trio, which is formed when three planets come within 5 degrees of each other. Mercury, the planet has been named after Mercury, the swift-footed messenger of the gods.

Image shows the view of the morning sky towards the East at 06:00 (BST) on 28th October 2015.

After an appearance in the evening sky in September, Mercury has now returned to the morning sky and will make its brightest and easiest-to-spot pre-dawn appearance of the year. Over the next three weeks, people will be treated to a show by three bright planets Jupiter, Mars and Venus in the eastern twilight skies. Mercury is the closest to the sun and is never around for long.

Mercury is known as inferior planet as its orbit is nearer to the sun than to earth. 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). It is said that Pythagoras, about the fifth century B.C., pointed out that they were one and the same.

And as an added bonus, be sure to be outside early on Sunday, October 11, no less than a half-hour before local sunrise.

It’s at greatest elongation, 18-degrees to the west of the sun, on October. 16. Be sure to have a clear and unobstructed eastern horizon.

The planet Mercury is going to be visible here on earth in the month of October, and it’s going to be magnificent. 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.

Even though it will be moving closer to the Sun after October 16, Mercury will brighten to the point that it will shine at a magnitude of -1.0, meaning it will be appear brighter in the sky than every star other than Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.

On the morning of October 30. the innermost planet will appear next to the bluish colored star Spica in the constellation Virgo.