Starwatch: find Mercury, with a little help from Venus

Starwatch chart 12 March 2018 Mercury and Venus

This week there is a treat for the early evening sky watcher. From 17 March onwards, the two inner planets of Mercury and Venus can be seen close together in the twilight sky. The sky will not be fully dark and viewers will need a clear western horizon to see the pair. Being the innermost planet, Mercury never strays far from the Sun. Hence it is only ever visible in twilight, making it a tricky object to spot. This week, however, Venus helps. Dubbed “the evening star”, it is unmistakably bright and will be visible just above the western horizon. Locate Venus, then hop to fainter Mercury, which is slightly higher in the sky to the right. The chart shows the view for 18:30 GMT on 17 March. On the two subsequent evenings, the planets will be joined by a beautiful new moon, which will be a faint hair-line crescent to the left of the planets.