Mercury (Planet)
© NASA/JPL/MESSENGER
Finder chart
Click and drag the chart above to pan around the sky, or use the mouse wheel to zoom.
Click to enlarge.
From South El Monte , Mercury is visible in the dawn sky, rising at 04:59 (PST) – 1 hour and 42 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 14° above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 06:18.
Begin typing the name of a town near to you, and then select the town from the list of options
which appear below.
|
Name
Mercury
|
Object type
Inferior planet
|
Current position
| Computed for: | 06 December 2025 |
| Right ascension: | 15h27m [2] |
| Declination: | −16°17' [2] |
| Constellation: | Libra |
| Magnitude: | -0.48 (V) [1] |
| Angular diameter: | 7.0 arcsec[2] |
| Distance: | 0.97 AU 8.10 lightmin [2] |
| Angular motion (speed): | 51.50 arcmin/day[2] |
| Angular motion (pos ang): | 108.8° |
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: | 01 January 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 |
Visibility from South El Monte
All times shown in South El Monte local time.
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 |
Printable finder charts
