Qatar Calendar House (QCH) announced that the smallest planet in our solar system, Mercury, will reach its maximum elongation with the sun in the sky of Qatar on the morning of Thursday, Sept 5, as Mercury will be at an altitude of 18 degrees above the eastern horizon at sunrise.
QCH astronomer Dr Bashir Marzouq said that the phenomenon of Mercury reaching its maximum elongation with the sun is an important astronomical phenomenon because it is a wonderful opportunity to observe Mercury from the Earth's surface for the longest period of time in the dawn sky above the eastern horizon before sunrise. This phenomenon only occurs for the planets Mercury and Venus, because their orbit around the sun is within the orbit of the Earth around the sun, he added.
Dr Marzouq explained that the residents of Qatar will be able to observe and see the planet Mercury during this phenomenon with the naked eye above the eastern horizon of the country's sky at dawn on Thursday, after its sunrise in the country's sky, and even before sunrise on Thursday, noting that the time of Mercury's sunrise in the Qatari sky will be at 03:56, while the sunrise on Thursday will be at 05:16 Doha local time.
The last time Mercury reached its maximum elongation with the sun above the eastern horizon was on Thursday, May 9, while it will reach it again on Dec 25, he added.
Elongation is defined as the maximum angle between the center of the sun and the centre of the planet relative to the observer from the surface of the Earth, and it is divided into two parts: eastern elongation, which is above the western horizon, and western elongation, which is above the eastern horizon.
The planet Mercury is one of the inner planets in our solar system, and it is the smallest and closest planet to the sun, as it is an average distance of 58mn km away from it.
