Why are conjunctions involving Mercury often the most difficult for skywatchers to catch?
Answer
Mercury is closest to the Sun and only visible low on the horizon shortly after sunset or before sunrise.
Mercury poses a significant observational challenge because, as the planet orbiting closest to the Sun, it never strays far from the Sun in the sky. Consequently, its conjunctions with the Moon are limited to very narrow windows: either low in the sky just after sunset (evening twilight) or just before sunrise (morning twilight). This requirement to observe it very low on the horizon during twilight makes spotting these pairings substantially harder than observing planets that traverse higher paths across the night sky.
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