Mercury will reach half phase in its Nov–Dec 1987 morning apparition. It will be shining brightly at mag -0.5.
From Cambridge , this apparition will be exceptionally well placed but tricky to observe, reaching a peak altitude of 17° above the horizon at sunrise on 14 Nov 1987.
Nov–Dec 1987 morning apparition of Mercury
| 28 Oct 1987 | – | Mercury at inferior solar conjunction |
| 10 Nov 1987 | – | Mercury at dichotomy |
| 13 Nov 1987 | – | Mercury at highest altitude in morning sky |
| 13 Nov 1987 | – | Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 23 Dec 1987 | – | Mercury at superior solar conjunction |
A graph of the phase of Mercury is available here.
Apparitions of Mercury
| 07 Jun 1987 | – | Evening apparition |
| 25 Jul 1987 | – | Morning apparition |
| 04 Oct 1987 | – | Evening apparition |
| 13 Nov 1987 | – | Morning apparition |
| 26 Jan 1988 | – | Evening apparition |
| 07 Mar 1988 | – | Morning apparition |
| 19 May 1988 | – | Evening apparition |
Observing Mercury
Mercury's orbit lies closer to the Sun than the Earth's, meaning that it always appears close to the Sun and is lost in the Sun's glare much of the time.
It is observable for only a few weeks each time it reaches greatest separation from the Sun – moments referred to as greatest elongation. These apparitions repeat roughly once every 3–4 months.
Mercury's phase
Mercury's phase varies depending on its position relative to the Earth. When it passes between the Earth and Sun, for example, the side that is turned towards the Earth is entirely unilluminated, like a new moon.
Conversely, when it lies opposite to the Earth in its orbit, passing almost behind the Sun, it appears fully illuminated, like a full moon. However, at this time it is also at its most distant from the Earth, so it is actually fainter than at other times.
Mercury shows an intermediate half phase – called dichotomy – at roughly the same moment that it appears furthest from the Sun, at greatest elongation. The exact times of the two events may differ by a few days, only because Mercury's orbit is not quite perfectly aligned with the ecliptic.
Mercury's position
The coordinates of Mercury when it reaches dichotomy will be:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Angular Size |
| Mercury | 13h53m00s | 9°11'S | Virgo | 7.2" |
| Sun | 15h03m | 17°17'S | Libra | 32'18" |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.
The sky on 22 Nov 2024
| The sky on 22 November 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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50% 21 days old |
All times shown in EST.
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Warning
Never attempt to point a pair of binoculars or a telescope at an object close to the Sun. Doing so may result in immediate and permanent blindness.
Source
The circumstances of this event were computed using the DE430 planetary ephemeris published by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
This event was automatically generated by searching the ephemeris for planetary alignments which are of interest to amateur astronomers, and the text above was generated based on an estimate of your location.
Related news
| 04 Oct 1987 | – Mercury at greatest elongation east |
| 13 Nov 1987 | – Mercury at highest altitude in morning sky |
| 13 Nov 1987 | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 26 Jan 1988 | – Mercury at greatest elongation east |
Image credit
© NASA/JPL/MESSENGER