Doha, December 19 (QNA) – The Qatar Calendar House (QCH) announced that the smallest planet of the solar system, Mercury, will reach its maximum elongation with the sun on Wednesday evening, the 27 Jumada Al-Awwal 1444 AH, corresponding to Dec. 21, 2022. Mercury will be at an angular distance of 20.1 arc degrees east of the sun relative to the observer from the Earth’s surface.
Astronomer at QCH Dr. Bashir Marzouk said that the phenomenon of the planet Mercury reaching its maximum elongation with the sun is one of the important astronomical phenomena because it is a wonderful opportunity to monitor it from the surface of the earth for the longest period of time in the evening sky above the western horizon after sunset. This is because the glare of the sun obscures Mercury most of the days of the year due to the proximity of its orbit to the sun, note that after Mercury reaches its maximum elongation with the sun, the angular distance between them will begin to decrease every day, which makes the planet approach the sun more every day and the sun’s rays obscure it.
He added that the planet Mercury reached its maximum elongation with the sun above the western horizon on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. While it will reach it again on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.
Residents of the State of Qatar will be able to observe and see the planet Mercury during that phenomenon above the western horizon with the naked eye in the evening sky after sunset on Wednesday, even before the sunset of the planet Mercury in the sky of the State of Qatar, knowing that the sunset time will be at 4:49 pm, while Mercury sunset will be at 6:16 pm Doha local time, and it is preferable to monitor from places far from light and environmental pollutants.
The elongation is defined as the maximum angle between the center of the sun and the center of the planet in relation to the observer from the surface of the earth, and it is divided into two parts, Eastern elongation, which is above the western horizon, and western elongation, which is above the eastern horizon.
The planet Mercury is one of the group of inner planets in the solar system, and it is the smallest and closest planet to the sun, as it is an average distance of 58 million km from it, and Mercury completes its cycle around the sun in a period of 88 Earth days. (QNA)
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