Tomorrow, the innermost planet of the Solar system, Mercury, will reach on the opposite side of the Sun from the Earth at 3:08am.
During the phenomenon, called superior conjunction, the sun will be in between Mercury and Earth, and Mercury will pass very close to the Sun in the sky as its orbit carries it around the far side of the solar system from the Earth. However, Mercury will not be visible while in conjunction with the Sun, though within the next week or so the planet will reappear on the east side of the Sun and start becoming visible over the western horizon at sunset.
“The superior conjunction of Mercury is very important astronomical phenomena because it is an indicator to Mercury transition from the dawn sky (eastern horizon) to an evening sky (Western horizon),” said a statement issued yesterday by Dr Mohammed Al Ansari and Dr Beshir Marzouk of Qatar Calendar House.
The superior conjunction occurs once in every synodic cycle of the planet Mercury which is 116 days, and hence the phenomenon will be repeated on June 21, 2017, while it will be at next inferior conjunction on April 20, 2017.
People in Qatar and the region will be able to observe Mercury over the western horizon after 10 days from the superior conjunction day in a clear sky. Mercury will rise over the Qatar sky tomorrow at the same time as sunrise, and both the heavenly bodies will set together. “The conjunction is divided into superior conjunction and inferior conjunction, where an inferior conjunction only happens for Mercury and Venus because they orbits are inside the Earth's orbit, while superior conjunction happens for all planets,” the experts added.
