Venus and Mercury over Japan on March 30th. Image: Mitsuo Muraoka via Science@NASA

UPDATE: This is a VERY nice pairing.  Mercury popped out nicely at 7:52 pm EDT.  Look more to the northwest at around  7:52  your local time.  They pair are much closer than in the image above.

There will be a great chance to see a great pairing of  Mercury and Venus coming up very soon.

Both planets are reaching eastern elongation.  That is the point in their orbits where they appear to reach the point in their travels furthest east of the sun.  When that happens the planets are visible after the sun sets for a few days either side of the elongation.  Venus is visible for quite some time, Mercury not so much, so be sure to have a look and don’t forget to point it out to the kids.

Dates of Eastern Elongation:

• Mercury:  09 April 2010
• Venus:  20 April 2010

Look to the western horizon as light fades some, you will pick up Venus first, it will be well above the horizon.  Mercury will become visible shortly afterwards and a bit lower in the sky.  The two planets will get as close as 3^o so as I said they will make for a great sight.   April 3rd and 4th is probably the best nights to look to see the close pairing.