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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Jun 18 | -1.92 | 05h 26m 14s | +23° 45’ 17” | Taurus |
| 2017 Jun 19 | -2.07 | 05h 35m 44s | +24° 01’ 37” | Taurus |
| 2017 Jun 20 | -2.22 | 05h 45m 20s | +24° 15’ 24” | Taurus |
| 2017 Jun 21 | -2.35 | 05h 54m 56s | +24° 26’ 27” | Taurus |
| 2017 Jun 22 | -2.34 | 06h 04m 36s | +24° 34’ 45” | Gemini |
| 2017 Jun 23 | -2.20 | 06h 14m 13s | +24° 40’ 14” | Gemini |
| 2017 Jun 24 | -2.03 | 06h 23m 49s | +24° 42’ 51” | Gemini |
| 2017 Jun 25 | -1.87 | 06h 33m 23s | +24° 42’ 42” | Gemini |
| 2017 Jun 26 | -1.72 | 06h 42m 51s | +24° 39’ 46” | Gemini |
| 2017 Jun 27 | -1.58 | 06h 52m 12s | +24° 34’ 06” | Gemini |
| 2017 Jun 28 | -1.45 | 07h 01m 26s | +24° 25’ 50” | Gemini |
| 2017 Jun 29 | -1.33 | 07h 10m 31s | +24° 15’ 05” | Gemini |
| 2017 Jun 30 | -1.22 | 07h 19m 27s | +24° 01’ 54” | Gemini |
| 2017 Jul 01 | -1.12 | 07h 28m 13s | +23° 46’ 29” | 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 | |