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The Sky this Week, March 28-April 3

“The Sky This Week” appears every Tuesday. It is written by Ian Clarke, Director of the Hatter Planetarium at Gettysburg College.  The planetarium offers regular educational presentations about the stars and the skies; there’s something for early elementary through adults. Field trip requests are welcome. NOTE: field trip request form for 2022-23 is now live. Spring 2023 schedule of free shows is available here. Images created with Stellarium.

mercury march

Have you ever seen the planet Mercury? It’s been known since ancient times but it is the most difficult to spot of the five planets visible to the unaided eye. Because it orbits the sun closer than any other planet and does it in only 88 days, Mercury never appears far from the sun and never stays visible for long. Over the next two weeks, you have an opportunity to see this elusive planet. Look for it in the west below Venus about 30 minutes after sunset. Mercury is brighter than you might think, but it can get lost in twilight. Binoculars will help. The actual date it appears farthest from the sun (called “greatest elongation”) is April 11. Mercury will drop down and be lost in the glare of the sunset later in April.

Ian Clarke1
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Ian Clarke is the director of the Hatter Planetarium at Gettysburg College. In addition he has taught introductory astronomy labs and first-year writing there for over 30 years (not necessarily all at the same time). He was educated at Biglerville High School, the University of Virginia, and the University of Iowa. He lives in Gettysburg.

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