The planet Mercury
© 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 Ashburn (click to change), Mercury is not observable – it will reach its highest point in the sky during daytime and is no higher than 2° above the horizon at dawn.
|
Name
Mercury
|
Object Type
Inferior Planet
|
Current Position
| Constellation: | Aries |
| Magnitude: | -0.77 (V)[1] |
| Right Ascension: | 02h55m [1] |
| Declination: | +15°00' [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
| 29 Apr 2018, 11:06 EDT | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 12 Jul 2018, 00:00 EDT | – Mercury at greatest elongation east |
| 26 Aug 2018, 17:48 EDT | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 06 Nov 2018, 09:59 EST | – Mercury at greatest elongation east |
| 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 |
Printable finder charts
