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 Europe/London timezone.
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 | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Dec 08 | 15h 41m 56s | -16° 51’ 56” | 0.04 | 8.0” | Libra |
| 2018 Dec 09 | 15h 42m 59s | -16° 56’ 04” | -0.11 | 7.8” | Libra |
| 2018 Dec 10 | 15h 44m 38s | -17° 03’ 23” | -0.22 | 7.6” | Libra |
| 2018 Dec 11 | 15h 46m 46s | -17° 13’ 26” | -0.31 | 7.4” | Libra |
| 2018 Dec 12 | 15h 49m 24s | -17° 25’ 49” | -0.37 | 7.2” | Libra |
| 2018 Dec 13 | 15h 52m 27s | -17° 40’ 09” | -0.41 | 7.0” | Libra |
| 2018 Dec 14 | 15h 55m 54s | -17° 56’ 05” | -0.44 | 6.9” | Libra |
| 2018 Dec 15 | 15h 59m 39s | -18° 13’ 18” | -0.46 | 6.7” | Libra |
| 2018 Dec 16 | 16h 03m 44s | -18° 31’ 31” | -0.47 | 6.6” | Scorpius |
| 2018 Dec 17 | 16h 08m 04s | -18° 50’ 26” | -0.48 | 6.4” | Scorpius |
| 2018 Dec 18 | 16h 12m 39s | -19° 09’ 48” | -0.48 | 6.3” | Scorpius |
| 2018 Dec 19 | 16h 17m 27s | -19° 29’ 29” | -0.47 | 6.2” | Scorpius |
| 2018 Dec 20 | 16h 22m 27s | -19° 49’ 14” | -0.47 | 6.1” | Scorpius |
| 2018 Dec 21 | 16h 27m 36s | -20° 08’ 54” | -0.46 | 6.0” | Ophiucus |
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 | |