Starwatch Chart 11/01/21 Moon and Mercury
For observers in the northern hemisphere, 2021 offers the chance to catch the bright gem of Mercury in the night sky.
Start your search on January 15, when the crescent moon of the new moon, which will be a wafer, will help guide you in the right direction. The moon will be a glorious splinter with only 7.4% of its surface illuminated by sunlight. If you don’t see Mercury low to the west that evening, return in the nights after sunset. Mercury will rise higher in the sky each night, it will become easier to detect, but the compensation is that it will become weaker as it rises into the sky.
The graph shows the view to the southwest at 17.00 GMT on 15 January. Mercury will reach maximum sun elongation and therefore its highest altitude in the evening sky on January 23-24, but catching it in the early hours of the apparition will allow you to track its movement night after night. From Sydney, Australia, the planet will be lost almost in sunlight. The crescent crescent moon, however, will remain delicious.