Mercury (Planet)
© NASA/JPL/MESSENGER
From South El Monte , Mercury is difficult to observe as it will appear no higher than 10° above the horizon. It is visible in the dawn sky, rising at 05:26 (PST) – 1 hour and 24 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 10° above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 06:27.
|
Name
Mercury
|
Object type
Inferior planet
|
Current position
| Computed for: | 19 December 2025 |
| Right ascension: | 16h32m [2] |
| Declination: | −20°54' [2] |
| Constellation: | Ophiuchus |
| Magnitude: | -0.48 (V) [1] |
| Angular diameter: | 5.4 arcsec[2] |
| Distance: | 1.23 AU 10.26 lightmin [2] |
Orbital elements [2]
| Semi-major axis: | 0.39 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.205636 |
| Inclination: | 7.00° |
| Longitude ascending node: | 48.33° |
| Argument of perihelion: | 29.13° |
| Epoch of elements: | 1 Jan 2000 |
| Mean Anomaly at epoch: | 174.79° |
| Absolute mag (H): | -0.65 [1] |
| Slope parameter (n): | 2.00 [1] |
Derived quantities
| Perihelion: | 0.31 AU |
| Aphelion: | 0.47 AU |
| Orbital period: | 0.24 years |
Sources
| [1] | Robin M. Green, Spherical Astronomy, 1985, ISBN 0-521-31779-7 |
| [2] | Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, 2013, Urban & Seidelmann, Eds., Table 8.7, ISBN 978-1-891389-85-6 |
Events
| 20 Nov 2025 | – Mercury at inferior solar conjunction |
| 23 Nov 2025 | – Mercury at perihelion |
| 04 Dec 2025 | – Mercury at dichotomy |
| 06 Dec 2025 | – Mercury at highest altitude in morning sky |
| 07 Dec 2025 | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 06 Jan 2026 | – Mercury at aphelion |
| 21 Jan 2026 | – Mercury at superior solar conjunction |
| 18 Feb 2026 | – Lunar occultation of Mercury |
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