Never strays far from the sun, so it is only ever visible in twilight, low down. Catching it at all is the achievement.
Never strays far from the sun, so it is only ever visible in twilight, low down. Catching it at all is the achievement.
At the moment Mercury shines at magnitude -0.6 and lies 1.02 astronomical units from Earth. Its position on the sky is right ascension 7.94 hours, declination +20.3°.
Planets shine with a steady light while stars twinkle. That is not folklore: stars are point sources and the atmosphere smears them, whereas a planet presents a tiny disc that averages out the turbulence. If it is bright and calm, it is a planet.