The view from New York City is shown on the sky map. The SkySafari app has an image.
Mercury will be at its farthest point from the sun in our sky on Friday.
Mercury will be shining bright at magnitude -0.6, but it will be a challenge to see in New York City. If you can, you might want to use binoculars.
According to In-The-Sky.org, you will have other planets to guide you. When the sky becomes dark after sunset, turn to the southwest sky. If you're lucky, you can see a line of planets: Jupiter at the top, Mercury, Venus and Saturn. Mercury should be under the yellowy Saturn.
There are planets in the night sky.
Check out our guide for the best binoculars and telescope deals to see Mercury and other amazing sky sights. Our guides for the best cameras for astronomy can help make sure you're ready to take a picture of the night sky.
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, so it's a challenging target for naked-eye observers. It is hard to spot in twilight because it is almost hugging the sun in the sky. You should never look at the sun without protective eye equipment. Permanent eye damage can be caused by looking at the sun.
It's convenient that so many other planets are nearby. The planets are gathering in one place. The Earth and other worlds are in the same plane of the sun.
The sun and moon can fall along the ecliptic, which can produce some interesting gatherings of planets and the moon. Sometimes the position of the sun and moon can cause solar eclipses.
If you would like to share your amazing night sky picture with Space.com readers, please send your photos, comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
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