Wednesday evening April 22^nd at sunset the inner planet Mercury and the outer planet Mars will be within 1-2^o from each other as they set over the western horizon. The two should make for a nice view with binoculars as this graphic shows. Actually the two will be close to each other for the next several evenings. However Mars is setting earlier each night while Mercury is moving eastward away from the Sun and Mars. Compare the the relative orbital speeds: Mercury moves around 4^o each day while Mars less than 1^o. For another comparison look at their relative brightness. Mars has an apparent magnitude of 1.42 compared with the -1.1 for Mercury.

   Viewing the two planets may be a challenge as they are both low above the western horizon at local time for sunset.

   
   
   
   
   
   

Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for more observing information for this month.