Mercury
Mercury is in the constellation of Cancer, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of Mercury in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of Mercury against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of Mercury from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
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 graph shows the distance of Mercury from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
The value of the distance of Mercury from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between January 1, 1600 and December 30, 2499, the closest approach of Mercury to Earth will happen on Monday 6 June 2416 at a distance of 0.548876 Astronomical Units, or 82,110,662 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart shows the light curve of Mercury, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.
Physical Properties
The table below lists the known key physical properties of Mercury.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18 2025 | 07h 14m 00s | +24° 19’ 44” | -0.40 | 6.1” | Gemini |
| Jun 19 2025 | 07h 21m 12s | +24° 03’ 58” | -0.33 | 6.2” | Gemini |
| Jun 20 2025 | 07h 28m 11s | +23° 46’ 44” | -0.26 | 6.3” | Gemini |
| Jun 21 2025 | 07h 34m 56s | +23° 28’ 09” | -0.19 | 6.4” | Gemini |
| Jun 22 2025 | 07h 41m 29s | +23° 08’ 18” | -0.12 | 6.5” | Gemini |
| Jun 23 2025 | 07h 47m 49s | +22° 47’ 21” | -0.06 | 6.6” | Gemini |
| Jun 24 2025 | 07h 53m 54s | +22° 25’ 24” | 0.00 | 6.7” | Gemini |
| Jun 25 2025 | 07h 59m 48s | +22° 02’ 33” | 0.06 | 6.8” | Gemini |
| Jun 26 2025 | 08h 05m 28s | +21° 38’ 55” | 0.11 | 6.9” | Cancer |
| Jun 27 2025 | 08h 10m 54s | +21° 14’ 35” | 0.17 | 7.1” | Cancer |
| Jun 28 2025 | 08h 16m 08s | +20° 49’ 41” | 0.22 | 7.2” | Cancer |
| Jun 29 2025 | 08h 21m 07s | +20° 24’ 18” | 0.27 | 7.3” | Cancer |
| Jun 30 2025 | 08h 25m 53s | +19° 58’ 33” | 0.31 | 7.5” | Cancer |
| Jul 01 2025 | 08h 30m 26s | +19° 32’ 32” | 0.36 | 7.6” | Cancer |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Mercury: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is Mercury?: Key information on where to find Mercury in the sky.
- Distance of Mercury 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: Rise and set times of Mercury from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of Mercury's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of Mercury's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days Mercury's computed ephemeris.
- Physical Data: Detailed information about physical properties of Mercury.