Mercury Calendar

Mercury Sodium & Potassium Observation Calendar 2006-2012

Boston University Imaging Science Team

June 2006 Mercury Campaign

Standard Star Information

Using Stars to Calibrate Surface Brightness

Criteria for "observable periods":
  1. At least 17° Mercury-Sun separation.
  2. Sodium & potassium resonant scattering
    illumination     at least 50% of maximum.
  3. The "best day" is the date of the largest
    elongation angle that still satisfies the
    Na & K illumination criterion.

NOTE: The date of Mercury's maximum elongation
is often not in the observing period, due to low
illumination of Na & K.
N. ObservatoriesLatitude
Hawaii+20°
Islas Canarias+28°
McDonald+31°
Tucson+32°
Sac Peak+33°
S. California+34°
Lowell+35°
Japan+36°
Lick+37°
S. ObservatoriesLatitude
Paranal-25°
La Silla-29°
Cerro Tololo-30°
AAO-Siding Spring-31°
SAAO-Sutherland-32°

2006

_Type_Best day_Mercury's altitude at min. nautical twilight_
From 30° NorthFrom 30° South
Mercury-Sun
_angular separation_
Mar 22- 27 AM Mar 27 2° 10° 22°
Apr 20- May 2 AM Apr 20 -- 13° 25°
Jun 4- 23 PM Jun 21 7° 11° 24°
Aug 1- 12 AM Aug 7 5° 3° 19°
Oct 13- 31 PM Oct 17 2° 12° 24°
Nov 20- Dec 5 AM Nov 26 7° -- 19°

2007

_Type_Best day_Mercury's altitude at min. nautical twilight_
From 30° NorthFrom 30° South
Mercury-Sun
_angular separation_
Feb 3- 4 PM Feb 4 5° -- 17°
Mar 5- 14 AM Mar 14 4° 13° 26°
Apr 7- 16 AM Apr 7 -- 11° 23°
May 19- Jun 10 PM Jun 2 8° 7° 23°
Jul 12- 29 AM Jul 21 5° 6° 20°
Sep 5- 6 PM Sep 6 -- 5° 17°
Sep 30- Oct 15 PM Sep 30 2° 13° 25°
Nov 7- 16 AM Nov 9 6° -- 18°

2008

_Type_Best day_Mercury's altitude at min. nautical twilight_
From 30° NorthFrom 30° South
Mercury-Sun
_angular separation_
Jan 17- 22 PM Jan 22 6° -- 18°
Feb 16- 29 AM Feb 29 6° 14° 26°
Mar 24- 29 AM Mar 24 -- 8° 20°
May 3- 25 PM May 14 8° 4° 21°
Jun 21- Jul 13 AM Jul 2 4° 8° 21°
Aug 18- 22 PM Aug 22 -- 8° 20°
Sep 16- 28 PM Sep 16 1° 14° 26°
Oct 23- 27 AM Oct 23 6° -- 18°
Dec 28- Jan 8 PM Jan 5 (2009) 6° 2° 19°

2009

_Type_Best day_Mercury's altitude at min. nautical twilight_
From 30° NorthFrom 30° South
Mercury-Sun
_angular separation_
Jan 30- Feb 14 AM Feb 14 7° 12° 26°
Mar 11- 11 AM Mar 11 -- 5° 17°
Apr 18- May 4 PM Apr 26 8° -- 20°
Jun 7- 28 AM Jun 13 3° 11° 23°
Aug 1- 9 PM Aug 9 2° 10° 22°
Sep 3- 11 PM Sep 3 -- 12° 24°
Oct 10- 10 AM Oct 10 5° -- 17°
Dec 8- 26 PM Dec 19 6° 5° 20°

2010

_Type_Best day_Mercury's altitude at min. nautical twilight_
From 30° NorthFrom 30° South
Mercury-Sun
_angular separation_
Jan 14- Feb 1 AM Jan 27 8° 9° 24°
Apr 4- 15 PM Apr 9 7° -- 19°
May 25- Jun 13 AM May 26 2° 13° 25°
Jul 15- 27 PM Jul 27 4° 12° 24°
Aug 21- 24 PM Aug 21 -- 9° 21°
Nov 17- Dec 11 PM Dec 2 5° 7° 21°
Dec 29- Jan 19 AM Jan 10 (2011) 9° 6° 23°

2011

_Type_Best day_Mercury's altitude at min. nautical twilight_
From 30° NorthFrom 30° South
Mercury-Sun
_angular separation_
Mar 22- 28 PM Mar 23 6° -- 18°
May 12- 28 AM May 12 1° 14° 26°
Jun 29- Jul 14 PM Jul 14 5° 13° 25°
Aug 31- Sep 2 AM Sep 2 5° -- 18°
Nov 3- 25 PM Nov 14 4° 9° 22°
Dec 14- Jan 6 AM Dec 23 9° 3° 21°

2012

_Type_Best day_Mercury's altitude at min. nautical twilight_
From 30° NorthFrom 30° South
Mercury-Sun
_angular separation_
Mar 8- 9 PM Mar 8 5° -- 17°
Apr 1- 3 AM Apr 3 -- 7° 19°
Apr 27- May 11 AM Apr 27 1° 13° 25°
Jun 12- 30 PM Jun 30 6° 12° 25°
Aug 12- 19 AM Aug 17 5° 1° 18°
Oct 20- Nov 9 PM Oct 27 3° 11° 24°


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