Starwatch map 11/1/21 Moon and Mercury
For skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere, 2021 offers a chance to catch Mercury’s bright jewel in the evening sky.
Begin your search on January 15, when the wafer-thin crescent of the new moon will help you in the right direction. The moon will be a glorious strip with only 7.4% of the surface illuminated by sunlight. If you don’t see Mercury low to the west that evening, return at sunset the following nights. Mercury will rise higher in the sky every night and be easier to spot, but the downside is that it gets fainter as it climbs into the sky.
The graph shows the view to the southwest at 5:00 pm GMT on January 15. Mercury reaches its greatest extension from the sun, and thus its highest height in the evening sky on January 23-24, but if you catch it early in the apparition, you can track its movement night after night. From Sydney, Australia, the planet will be all but lost in the glare of the sun. However, the waxing crescent moon will remain delightful.