Naked-eye viewing

Mercury is seen most easily when it is close to its greatest elongation, which means that its angular separation from the Sun is greatest. It can be near greatest western elongation, which means it is west of the Sun in the sky, so it is visible soon before sunrise, or greatest eastern elongation, which means it is visible soon after sunset. However, the exact dates of the greatest elongations are not the best ones on which to try to see Mercury. The phase of the planet greatly affects its apparent brightness. At greatest elongation, it is approximately at half phase. It is brighter when it is gibbous, which means that the best times to see Mercury are a few days before greatest eastern elongation, in the evening, or a few days after greatest western elongation, in the morning. The apparent inclination of the ecliptic to the horizon is also important. When the inclination is large, as occurs near the spring equinox in the evening, and near the autumnal equinox in the morning (this is true for observers in both hemispheres), Mercury is higher in the sky when the Sun is just below the horizon, which makes it easier to see than at other times. The inclination of the ecliptic is also greater for observers at low latitudes than high ones. It is helpful if Mercury is close to aphelion at the time of observation, because this makes it further from the Sun than at other times. However, it also makes the planet less brightly illuminated, so the visibility advantage is not great. At present, Mercury is fairly close to aphelion when viewed at greatest western elongation at the March equinox, or at greatest eastern elongation at the September equinox. (Over long periods of time, [citation needed] this changes as Mercury's orbit shifts.) Putting all these factors together, the best time for an observer in the Southern Hemisphere to see Mercury is in the morning, near the March equinox, a few days after Mercury is at greatest western elongation, or in the evening, near the September equinox, a few days before greatest eastern elongation. An observer in the Northern Hemisphere cannot optimize all the factors simultaneously. Usually, the best chances of seeing the planet are in the evening, near the March equinox, a few days before greatest eastern elongation, or in the morning, near the September equinox, a few days after greatest western elongation. The inclination of the ecliptic is then large, but Mercury is not close to [citation needed] aphelion. Mercury's period of revolution around the Sun is 88 days. It therefore makes about 4.15 revolutions around the Sun in one Earth-year. In successive years the position of Mercury on its orbit therefore shifts by 0.15 revolutions when seen on specific dates, such as the equinoxes. Therefore, if, for example, greatest eastern elongation happens on the March equinox of some year, about three years later greatest western elongation will happen near the March equinox, because the position of Mercury on its orbit at the equinox will have changed by about half (.45) a revolution. Thus, if the timings of elongations and equinoxes are unfavourable for observing Mercury in some year, they will be fairly favourable within about [citation needed] three years later. Furthermore, since the shift of .15 revolutions in a year makes up a sevenyear cycle (0.15 7 1.0), in the seventh year Mercury will follows almost exactly (earlier by 7 days) the [90] sequence of phenomena it showed seven years before. When conditions are near optimal, Mercury is easy to see. However, optimal conditions are rare, and many casual observers search for Mercury without success