The nearest planet of the sun “Mercury” will be at an inferior conjunction with the sun on August 26 at 11:30pm, Qatar Calendar House (QCH) announced.
During this inferior conjunction, Sun, Earth and Mercury will align on straight line. Moreover Mercury will be in between Sun and Earth, and it will pass very close to the Sun more than the Earth, astronomer expert at QCH Dr Beshir Marzouk said.
An inferior conjunction of Mercury is important astronomical phenomenon because it is an indication of Mercury’s transition from an evening sky (Western horizon) to the dawn sky (eastern horizon). This phenomenon happens only for two planets, Mercury and Venus, of our solar system planets.
People in Qatar and the region will be able to observe Mercury over Eastern Horizon after approximately 10 days from an inferior conjunction day on clear sky without light and environment pollutions, where the duration between time rise of Mercury and sunrise time will be increase during next few weeks.
Dr Beshir Marzouk added that an inferior conjunction occurs once in every synodic cycle of the planet Mercury, and hence Mercury was at inferior conjunction with Sun on April 20, while the next time during this year will be on December 13.
On this day Mercury will be rise over the Qatar sky at the same time of sunrise and both the celestial bodies will set together approximately.
There are two types of conjunction: inferior and superior, an inferior conjunction only happens for two planets of our solar system, Mercury and Venus, because they orbits are inside Earth's orbit, while superior conjunction happens for all our solar system planets.
