This just in from NASA! Spacecraft Messinger is preparing to enter the orbit of the planet Mercury. Mercury is visible in the western sky at sunset (or a little after). The bright object in the sky is Jupiter. Mercury will be lower and to the right of Jupiter. Over the next three days, Jupiter and Mercury will trade places. That is...Mercury will be the upper object and Jupiter the lower one. Mercury will be dimmer than Jupiter, mainly because it is so much smaller. You might not be able to see Mercury unless you are high up. It will be close to the horizon. Messinger's orbital burn will take place on March 17th. By that date, Mercury should be visible above any rooftops and trees (providing you have clear skies to your West). Sorry but you won't be able to see the orbital entry. NASA doesn't even say you could see it with a backyard telescope. Just one of those things we have to put up with. Click on the link in the message from NASA which takes you to their homepage where you can see a photograph taken yesterday evening in the UK. This will give you a very good idea of where to look. Robert E Paty, Scottsdale, AZ aka Mad Hatter From: snglist@snglist.msfc.nasa.gov To: snglist@snglist.msfc.nasa.gov Subject: See Mercury at Sunset Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:10:47 -0600 NASA Science News for March 14, 2011 This week, sky watchers have a rare opportunity to see Mercury at its best as NASA's MESSENGER probe prepares to enter orbit around the innermost planet. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/14mar_seemercury/ You are currently subscribed to snglist as: dback1935@msn.com. This is a free service. To unsubscribe click here: http://lyris.msfc.nasa.gov/u?id=133594N&n=T&l=snglist or send a blank email to leave-snglist-133594N@lyris.msfc.nasa.gov