Mercury will reach half phase in its Dec 2023–Feb 2024 morning apparition. It will be shining brightly at mag -0.2.
From San Diego , this apparition will not be one of the most prominent and tricky to observe, reaching a peak altitude of 17° above the horizon at sunrise on 9 Jan 2024.
Dec 2023–Feb 2024 morning apparition of Mercury
22 Dec 2023 | – | Mercury at inferior solar conjunction |
07 Jan 2024 | – | Mercury at dichotomy |
08 Jan 2024 | – | Mercury at highest altitude in morning sky |
12 Jan 2024 | – | Mercury at greatest elongation west |
The table below lists the altitude of Mercury at sunrise over the course of the apparition. All times are given in San Diego local time.
Date | Sun rises at |
Mercury rises at |
Altitude at sunrise |
Direction at sunrise |
Mag | Phase |
25 Dec 2023 | 06:46 | 06:12 | 6° | south-east | 3.8 | 3% |
28 Dec 2023 | 06:47 | 05:45 | 11° | south-east | 1.8 | 12% |
31 Dec 2023 | 06:48 | 05:26 | 14° | south-east | 0.7 | 24% |
03 Jan 2024 | 06:49 | 05:14 | 16° | south-east | 0.1 | 36% |
06 Jan 2024 | 06:49 | 05:08 | 17° | south-east | -0.1 | 47% |
09 Jan 2024 | 06:49 | 05:07 | 17° | south-east | -0.2 | 56% |
12 Jan 2024 | 06:49 | 05:08 | 17° | south-east | -0.3 | 63% |
15 Jan 2024 | 06:48 | 05:12 | 16° | south-east | -0.3 | 69% |
18 Jan 2024 | 06:48 | 05:16 | 15° | south-east | -0.3 | 74% |
21 Jan 2024 | 06:47 | 05:22 | 14° | south-east | -0.2 | 78% |
24 Jan 2024 | 06:46 | 05:28 | 13° | south-east | -0.2 | 81% |
27 Jan 2024 | 06:44 | 05:34 | 12° | south-east | -0.2 | 84% |
30 Jan 2024 | 06:42 | 05:40 | 11° | south-east | -0.3 | 87% |
02 Feb 2024 | 06:40 | 05:46 | 9° | south-east | -0.3 | 89% |
05 Feb 2024 | 06:38 | 05:52 | 8° | south-east | -0.4 | 91% |
08 Feb 2024 | 06:36 | 05:57 | 7° | south-east | -0.4 | 93% |
11 Feb 2024 | 06:33 | 06:02 | 5° | south-east | -0.5 | 94% |
Mercury will brighten rapidly at the start of its morning apparition as it emerges from inferior conjunction. Prior to its apparition, it passed between the Earth and Sun, at which time it had its unilluminated side turned towards the Earth and so appeared as a thin, barely illuminated crescent. As the apparition proceeds, this crescent waxes and becomes gibbous.
Since Mercury can only ever be observed in twilight, it is particularly difficult to find when it is in a thin crescent phase. Thus, it will be significantly easier to see in the days after it reaches its highest point in the sky – when it will show a gibbous phase – than in the days beforehand.
Altitude of Mercury at sunrise
A graph of the phase of Mercury is available here.
Apparitions of Mercury
09 Aug 2023 | – | Evening apparition |
22 Sep 2023 | – | Morning apparition |
04 Dec 2023 | – | Evening apparition |
12 Jan 2024 | – | Morning apparition |
24 Mar 2024 | – | Evening apparition |
09 May 2024 | – | Morning apparition |
21 Jul 2024 | – | 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 | 17h32m40s | 20°53'S | Ophiuchus | 7.4" |
Sun | 19h10m | 22°27'S | Sagittarius | 32'31" |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.
The sky on 7 Jan 2024
The sky on 7 January 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16% 26 days old |
All times shown in PST.
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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
08 Dec 2023 | – Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky |
08 Jan 2024 | – Mercury at highest altitude in morning sky |
12 Jan 2024 | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
24 Mar 2024 | – Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky |
Image credit
© NASA/JPL/MESSENGER