The Sky This Week, 2013 February 19 – 26 — Naval Oceanography Portal

If you missed sighting the planet Mercury at dusk over the past several evenings, you still have a chance early this week. Mercury passed greatest elongation on the 16th and now seems to "hover" about 10 degrees above the western horizon about half an hour after sunset. Unfortunately he begins to fade quite rapidly as he begins his plunge back toward the Sun, so you’ll need binoculars and very clear skies to sight him after the 22nd. By the end of the week he will still be fairly high in evening twilight, but he will have faded to second magnitude and will be lost in the sunset glow. You’ll get another chance to see him near the end of May, however, when he returns to the evening sky with Venus and Jupiter in tow.

The Sky This Week, 2013 February 19 – 26 — Naval Oceanography Portal