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Mercury (January, 2018) ⬅︎
Mercury is the easiest planet to find but the hardest to see. As the first planet, it's always close to the Sun in our sky. So to find Mercury, just find the Sun. But, of course, the brilliance of the Sun makes seeing Mercury nearly impossible. Mercury is never out at night.

So when can Mercury be viewed? In twilight, but only at special times of the year. As Mercury orbits the Sun, it moves in our sky from one side of the Sun to the other. When it's at its greatest angular distance from the Sun, or maximum elongation, it may be possible to view Mercury right before sunrise or right after sunset.

The good news is that, because Mercury orbits the sun so quickly, there are usually six elongations in a year alternating between dawn and dusk viewings. The bad news is that, because its orbit is so tilted, Mercury's altitude above the horizon is only high enough for good viewing during half of these.

Any attempt to view Mercury has to be timed just right and a good view of the horizon where the sun rises or sets is needed. Like our Moon, Mercury goes through phases and it will be in quarter or crescent phase during elongations.
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Level RatingBest Viewing
* On Jan 1st, Mercury will reach maximum elongation of 22 degrees (see above).
* It will move closer to the sun in our sky all month becoming more difficult to view each day.
* Before the end of the month it will be too close to be viewable.
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WARNING
Never use binoculars or telescopes to view near the sun.