Astroblog: Mercury comes close to Spica , 20 and 21 September, 2014

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Mercury comes close to Spica , 20 and 21 September, 2014


Evening sky on Friday September 20 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 19:30 (7:30 pm) ACST in South Australia. (click to embiggen to get a better view)	Evening sky on Sunday September 21 looking west as seen from Adelaide at 19:00 (7:00 pm) ACST in South Australia. (click to embiggen to get a better view)

Mercury has finally caught up to Spica and passed it. The pair were closest on the 20th, hoever due to fatherly taxi duties I could only get the pair when they were just about to sink into the murk of the horizon. Tonight was better, as Mercury began to pull away from Spica.

In all the ages Mercuy and Spica are the bottom pair, with Mercury on the left. Also in the images are Mars and Saturn. Near the middle right is the pair of alpha Librae with Saturn above it. Then up the top is the two bright objects, the star Dschubba with Mars just above it. the red Star Antares is near the top in both images.

Labels: Conjunction, Mercury, Saturn Mars