APOD: Mercury and Jupiter at Sunset (2011 Mar 18)

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APOD Robot
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APOD: Mercury and Jupiter at Sunset (2011 Mar 18)

Post by APOD Robot » Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:09 am

Image Mercury and Jupiter at Sunset

Explanation: When warm sunset hues begin to fade, two celestial beacons now shine in the evening twilight, Mercury and Jupiter. Wandering away from the Sun in planet Earth's sky, Mercury will offer good views this month as spring approaches in the northern hemisphere where the ecliptic plane makes a steep angle with the western horizon. But Jupiter will continue sinking lower in the sky after sunset. In fact, the normally elusive Mercury shines well above Jupiter and the orange sunset glow in this serene sky. Captured earlier this week from the island of of Frösön in northern Sweden, the scene looks across Lake Storsjön toward the village of Hallen and distant mountains. Of course, even better views of Mercury can be had by the MESSENGER spacecraft, now orbiting the Solar System's innermost planet!

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owlice
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Re: APOD: Mercury and Jupiter at Sunset (2011 Mar 18)

Post by owlice » Fri Mar 18, 2011 7:24 am

What a lovely way to be reminded to look for Mercury! And yay! for MESSENGER!
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orin stepanek
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Re: APOD: Mercury and Jupiter at Sunset (2011 Mar 18)

Post by orin stepanek » Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:59 pm

owlice wrote: And yay! for MESSENGER!
True! Now Mercury has it's own man made moon. 8-) Can we expect some new photo's of Mercury?
Orin

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Re: APOD: Mercury and Jupiter at Sunset (2011 Mar 18)

Post by moonstruck » Fri Mar 18, 2011 1:39 pm

Wow, six and a half years and 4.9 billion miles. What a trip. Can't wait for the pictures from Messenger.

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