Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system, will be at inferior conjunction with the Sun, as it will pass between the Sun and Earth on the morning of Wednesday, July 1, at 5:45am Doha local time, according to the Qatar Calendar House (QCH).
Dr Beshir Marzouk, astronomer at QCH, said the inferior conjunction of Mercury is a very important astronomical phenomenon because it is an indicator to Mercury transition to disappear on an evening sky over western horizon after sunset, to appear on the morning sky over eastern horizon before sunrise.
Moreover, the inferior conjunction phenomenon occurs only for two planets of our solar system planets (Mercury and Venus) because they orbit around the sun and are inside Earth’s orbit. Marzouk added that Mercury will pass very close to the Sun during superior conjunction. It will pass behind the Sun, in opposite side of Earth, hence it will be unobservable for coming several weeks from all world hemisphere.
Qatar and Arab countries will be able to observe Mercury over western horizon during last week of July, 2020, approximately, where the duration between the time set of Mercury and sunset time will be increasing during coming few weeks. The superior conjunction of Mercury occurred on February 26, 2020, while the next conjunction will occur on Sunday, October 25, 2020.
Source : Gulf Times
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