The planet Mercury
© NASA/JPL/MESSENGER
Finder chart
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From Ashburn , Mercury is difficult to observe as it will appear no higher than 12° above the horizon. It is visible in the dawn sky, rising at 05:30 (EST) – 1 hour and 49 minutes before the Sun – and reach an altitude of 12° above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 06:52.
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|
Name
Mercury
|
Object Type
Inferior Planet
|
Current Position
| Constellation: | Libra |
| Magnitude: | -0.44 (V)[1] |
| Right Ascension: | 15h55m [1] |
| Declination: | -17°56' [1] |
Orbital Elements[1]
| Semi-major axis: | 0.39 AU |
| Eccentricity: | 0.205629 |
| Inclination: | 7.01° |
| Longitude ascending node: | 48.35° |
| Argument of perihelion: | 29.08° |
| Epoch of elements: | 14 January 1985 |
| Mean Anomaly at epoch: | 132.23° |
Derived quantities
| Perihelion: | 0.31 AU |
| Aphelion: | 0.47 AU |
| Orbital period: | 0.24 years |
Source
| [1] | Robin M. Green, Spherical Astronomy, 1985, ISBN 0-521-31779-7 |
Events
| 15 Dec 2018, 10:17 EST | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 26 Feb 2019, 16:29 EST | – Mercury at greatest elongation east |
| 11 Apr 2019, 11:37 EDT | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 23 Jun 2019, 20:48 EDT | – Mercury at greatest elongation east |
| 09 Aug 2019, 23:26 EDT | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 19 Oct 2019, 20:41 EDT | – Mercury at greatest elongation east |
| 11 Nov 2019, 10:20 EST | – Transit of Mercury |
| 28 Nov 2019, 07:18 EST | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
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