Why Is Mercury Difficult to Observe from Earth

question 449

Multiple Choice

Why is Mercury difficult to observe from Earth?

• A) Mercury remains close to the Sun in its orbit and is seen in a dark sky only at sunrise or sunset, close to the horizon.
• B) Mercury orbits the Sun very rapidly and moves across our sky very quickly.
• C) The orbit of Mercury is very elliptical and tilted at a large angle to the ecliptic, and any position on this orbit is visible only at midnight when Mercury is low in the sky.
• D) Mercury is a very small object that orbits a long way from the Sun, thereby reflecting little light back to Earth.

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