If you’re up early tomorrow, and you have a clear southeastern horizon, you might want to step out into the winter chill for a few seconds – or maybe just look out your kitchen window. The Moon will pass amazingly close to the star Antares, the heart of the scorpion. And an even brighter light will stand not far to the left: the planet Mercury. All three are quite low in the sky during the dawn twilight, and quickly vanish as the sky gets brighter.

The Moon and Antares are visible at some point during most nights of the year. And they can pass high across the sky, so they’re easy to pick out.

Mercury is a little more bashful. It’s the closest planet to the Sun – about a third of Earth’s distance. Because of that, Mercury never moves very far from the Sun in our sky. At best, it’s visible for a little while before sunrise, as it is now, or after sunset.

That makes Mercury a difficult target for skywatchers – and for professional astronomers. They can’t point their telescopes close to the Sun. And Mercury is almost always so low in the sky that it’s seen through a thick layer of air, which muddies the view.

The best views of Mercury have come from three spacecraft that have visited the planet. The third one has passed by Mercury three times, with another visit scheduled for next month. It should enter orbit in November of 2026 – providing the best views yet of this bashful little planet.

Script by Damond Benningfield