Mercury
Mercury is in the constellation of
Aries,
at a distance of
Finder Charts
View interactive star map
High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Mercury is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Mercury?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Mercury in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Celestial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
Today's rise, transit and set times of Mercury from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- Mercury is above the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
- Right now it is placed in the West-South-West direction at an altitude of 33.02° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, Mercury is visible to the naked eye, even from highly light polluted areas.
- Go to interactive sky chart
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Distance from Earth
The distance of Mercury from Earth is currently
The following chart shows the distance of Mercury from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Mercury from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach
Between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499, the closest approach of Mercury to Earth happens on Mon Jun 6 2416 at a distance of 0.548876 Astronomical Units, or 82,110,662 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Mercury, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Mercury. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 4879.4 km | 0.3829 |
| Mass | 0.330104 x 1024 kg | 0.0553 |
| Density | 5.427 gr/cm3 | 0.9843 |
| Escape Velocity | 4.25 km/s | 0.3798 |
| Sideral Rotation | 1,407.5088 hours | 58.8068 |
| Absolute Magnitude | -0.6 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.106 |
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Mercury computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 May 15 | 02h 24m 37s | +12° 19’ 40” | -0.70 | 5.6” | Aries |
| 2025 May 16 | 02h 31m 37s | +13° 02’ 21” | -0.79 | 5.5” | Aries |
| 2025 May 17 | 02h 38m 47s | +13° 45’ 14” | -0.87 | 5.5” | Aries |
| 2025 May 18 | 02h 46m 07s | +14° 28’ 13” | -0.96 | 5.4” | Aries |
| 2025 May 19 | 02h 53m 38s | +15° 11’ 10” | -1.05 | 5.4” | Aries |
| 2025 May 20 | 03h 01m 18s | +15° 53’ 59” | -1.14 | 5.3” | Aries |
| 2025 May 21 | 03h 09m 10s | +16° 36’ 28” | -1.24 | 5.3” | Aries |
| 2025 May 22 | 03h 17m 11s | +17° 18’ 31” | -1.34 | 5.2” | Aries |
| 2025 May 23 | 03h 25m 24s | +17° 59’ 56” | -1.44 | 5.2” | Aries |
| 2025 May 24 | 03h 33m 47s | +18° 40’ 34” | -1.55 | 5.2” | Taurus |
| 2025 May 25 | 03h 42m 20s | +19° 20’ 11” | -1.66 | 5.1” | Taurus |
| 2025 May 26 | 03h 51m 03s | +19° 58’ 38” | -1.79 | 5.1” | Taurus |
| 2025 May 27 | 03h 59m 54s | +20° 35’ 42” | -1.93 | 5.1” | Taurus |
| 2025 May 28 | 04h 08m 55s | +21° 11’ 09” | -2.09 | 5.1” | Taurus |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Mercury: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is Mercury?: Key information on locating Mercury in the sky.
- Distance from Earth: Find out how far Mercury is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is Mercury?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Mercury's rise and set times from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: planetarium-style interactive visualization of Mercury's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: high precision position tracker with deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days Mercury's computed ephemeris.
- Physical Data. Detailed information about physical properties of Mercury, such as mass and geometric properties.