All the interested reader, if any, need do is get up around an hour before sunrise and look South, . . . from now until around 20 February, when Mercury appears too close to the Sun to see.
From Sky and Telescope
Here's the view 45 minutes before sunrise as plotted for January 25th. With each passing day, Mercury will appear brighter and climb a little higher :
Oh, . . . the chart above also includes the position-and-phase of the Moon at several dates over the next month, the less-full the Moon the easier to spot the planets. And the position of the Moon on February 5th would make it easier to spot mercury.
Even if the reader is not interested, kids with curiosity usually get a kick out of stuff like this. If one's kids have no curiosity, DonDiego feels sorry for them.
From Sky and Telescope
Here's the view 45 minutes before sunrise as plotted for January 25th. With each passing day, Mercury will appear brighter and climb a little higher :
Oh, . . . the chart above also includes the position-and-phase of the Moon at several dates over the next month, the less-full the Moon the easier to spot the planets. And the position of the Moon on February 5th would make it easier to spot mercury.
Even if the reader is not interested, kids with curiosity usually get a kick out of stuff like this. If one's kids have no curiosity, DonDiego feels sorry for them.
