Two weeks ago, Mercury was found in our low western sky just after sunset. Today, it is gone from view. Two months ago, Venus shone brightly in our eastern sky in the morning twilight. Today, it is gone from view. Both of these worlds have moved in their orbits so that they are slowly approaching the sun, at least from our viewpoint.
On June 7, Mercury is at its farthest from the sun as it can be. It is also passing between the sun and the Earth, which means that Mercury is as close to the Earth as it can come — 51 million miles.
On June 8, Venus is on the opposite side of the sun from the Earth, lying 161 million miles away.
These two inner planets are there, they just can't be seen by viewers on Earth. They are in near alignment with each other and the sun.
Such is our view from Earth...
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