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Mercury and Regulus form a close pair on July 28
I'm lucky to see Mercury once or twice a year. I missed this event. We've had afternoon thunderstorms for the past few days.
Mercury and Regulus form a close pair on July 28
Marcy Curran
July 28, 2023
{snip}
Mercury is heading to greatest elongation
And then, for the next few weeks, keep an eye on the western sky after sunset, as Mercury will reach greatest elongation – or be farthest from the sun – on August 10, 2023. And then later in August, Mercury will be gone, too close to the sunset to see (really, passing between the sun and Earth). Mercury will emerge again in the morning sky around mid-September.
Meanwhile, Regulus – whose name means Little King – will be descending more each day in the western evening sky. Regulus and Leo will give way to a new batch of familiar seasonal constellations gracing the July and August evening skies.
Bottom line: Mercury and Regulus will be very close to each other on July 28. In fact, they’ll be 1/5 the diameter of the moon from each other. Wow! So don’t miss this lovely pair.
{snip}
Marcy Curran
July 28, 2023
{snip}
Mercury is heading to greatest elongation
And then, for the next few weeks, keep an eye on the western sky after sunset, as Mercury will reach greatest elongation – or be farthest from the sun – on August 10, 2023. And then later in August, Mercury will be gone, too close to the sunset to see (really, passing between the sun and Earth). Mercury will emerge again in the morning sky around mid-September.
Meanwhile, Regulus – whose name means Little King – will be descending more each day in the western evening sky. Regulus and Leo will give way to a new batch of familiar seasonal constellations gracing the July and August evening skies.
Bottom line: Mercury and Regulus will be very close to each other on July 28. In fact, they’ll be 1/5 the diameter of the moon from each other. Wow! So don’t miss this lovely pair.
{snip}
Again?
Sat Jul 30, 2016: Mercury-Regulus conjunction on July 30