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What is… Elongation |
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This is generally used in relation to the planets Mercury and Venus, which never rise very high because their orbits lie between us and the Sun. Greatest elongation is when they seem to be at the farthest point east or west of the Sun; that is, when they appear highest in our sky.
Eastern elongation is when either planet is an "evening star" (it appears east of the Sun) and at western elongation, it's a "morning star", rising before the Sun.
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This page last updated on July 9, 1998