Update, see the slide show of the conjunction below.
Brilliant Evening Star Venus and bright Mercury shine during the evening twilight on the evening of March 3. Both planets are emerging from their superior conjunctions. Mercury’s conjunction is February 17; Venus was January 9.
The chart above shows the planets about 30 minutes after sunset. Brilliant Venus is 5 degrees above the horizon. Mercury is 1 degree to the right. It is bright, yet about 5 times dimmer than Mercury. Binoculars may be required to first identify Mercury. It should easily viewed without optical assistance once it’s located.
Find a clear western horizon to locate the pair.
The articles that follow provide details about the planets visible without optical assistance (binoculars or telescope):
- Chart and Image Collection
- 2018: The Morning Sky
- 2018: The Evening Sky
- 2018, February 10: Mars-Antares Conjunction
- 2018, March 3: Venus-Mercury Conjunction
- 2018, March 18: Venus, Mercury and the Moon
- 2018, April 2: Saturn-Mars Conjunction
- 2018: Mercury in the Morning Sky
- 2018: Mercury in the Evening Sky
- 2018: Five Planets Visible at Once
- 2018: Venus the Evening Star
- 2017-2019: Mars Observing Year with a Perihelic Opposition, July 27, 2018
- 2018: Mars Perihelic Opposition
- 2017-2018: Jupiter’s Year in the Claws of the Scorpion, A Triple Conjunction
- 2018: Three Planets at Opposition in 79 days
- 2018: Saturn with the Teapot