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 difficult to observe as it will appear no higher than 11° above the horizon. It will become visible at around 20:38 (PDT), 11° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hour and 34 minutes after the Sun at 21:41.
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: | 29 June 2025 |
| Right ascension: | 08h21m [2] |
| Declination: | +20°21' [2] |
| Constellation: | Cancer |
| Magnitude: | 0.15 (V) [1] |
| Angular diameter: | 7.3 arcsec[2] |
| Distance: | 0.91 AU 7.59 lightmin [2] |
| Angular motion (speed): | 1.23 deg/day[2] |
| Angular motion (pos ang): | 110.1° |
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
| 31 May 2025 | – Mercury at perihelion |
| 27 Jun 2025 | – Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky |
| 28 Jun 2025 | – Mercury at dichotomy |
| 03 Jul 2025 | – Mercury at greatest elongation east |
| 14 Jul 2025 | – Mercury at aphelion |
| 31 Jul 2025 | – Mercury at inferior solar conjunction |
| 19 Aug 2025 | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 20 Aug 2025 | – Mercury at highest altitude in morning sky |
Printable finder charts
