Mercury
Mercury Sky Charts and Coordinates
This is a simplified sky chart, showing where Mercury is now with respect to the brightest stars and constellations.
More advanced sky charts are available on TheSkyLive for this object: 1) the Online Planetarium which is interactive and allows to select dates and additional objects to visualize; and 2) the Live Position and Data Tracker which provides the highest precision position data and features deep sky imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey.
High Precision Live Sky Chart
Mercury Rise and Set Times
Today's Mercury rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. All times are relative to the local timezone Europe/London.
Mercury Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Mercury computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Mercury in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | MagnitudeMag | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Jun 12 | -1.57 | 05h 51m 06s | +24° 57’ 19” | Taurus |
| 2018 Jun 13 | -1.44 | 06h 00m 27s | +25° 04’ 09” | Taurus |
| 2018 Jun 14 | -1.33 | 06h 09m 42s | +25° 08’ 14” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 15 | -1.22 | 06h 18m 48s | +25° 09’ 39” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 16 | -1.12 | 06h 27m 47s | +25° 08’ 26” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 17 | -1.02 | 06h 36m 38s | +25° 04’ 44” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 18 | -0.94 | 06h 45m 16s | +24° 58’ 36” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 19 | -0.85 | 06h 53m 45s | +24° 50’ 12” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 20 | -0.78 | 07h 02m 03s | +24° 39’ 38” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 21 | -0.70 | 07h 10m 10s | +24° 27’ 02” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 22 | -0.63 | 07h 18m 05s | +24° 12’ 33” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 23 | -0.57 | 07h 25m 47s | +23° 56’ 16” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 24 | -0.50 | 07h 33m 17s | +23° 38’ 21” | Gemini |
| 2018 Jun 25 | -0.44 | 07h 40m 35s | +23° 18’ 55” | Gemini |
Distance of Mercury from Earth
The following chart shows the distance of Mercury from Earth as a function of time. Distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with a 2 days interval.
The reported distances might be inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Mercury is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Light Curve of Mercury
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.
Mercury 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 | |