Astroblog: Mercury and Venus in the Head of the Scorpion

Thursday, November 03, 2011

Mercury and Venus in the Head of the Scorpion

Evening sky looking west as seen from Adelaide at 8:30 pm local daylight saving time on Friday November 4, 2011 showing the Mercury and Venus in the head of the Scorpion. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.

Mercury and Venus are side by side, around 2 degrees from each other, and spend the early part of November climbing the Scorpion together.

On November 4, Mercury and Venus are in the horizontal bar of stars that make up the head of the constellation of the Scorpion. With Mercury 0.7 degrees from Delta Scorpii, this will look quite amazing. Look to the west around an hour after sunset for best viewing, although they will be low above the horizon.

On the 5th the pair are still close to the head of the Scorpion, and well worth looking out for too.

Labels: Mercury, unaided eye observation, Venus

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 8:01 am

Comments:

Hello Ian,
how many chances' are that the asteroid 2005 yu55 be attracted by the gravitational pull of the Earth? And if you can it do? There 'a minimum risk of impact?
Thank you in advance.

Francesco

# posted by

Anonymous : 11:33 pm

2005 YU55 is already attracted by the gravitational field of the Earth, and will be for its entire orbit. This is already accounted for in its current orbital predictions. 2005 YU55 has no chance of hitting Earth, or the Moon.

# posted by