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Mercury Position Calculator
Compute the position of Mercury for any date and time between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499 and visualize the results on an interactive sky map.
Mercury
Mercury is in the constellation of
Leo,
at a distance of
Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System, located 0.39 astronomical units from the Sun. It has a diameter of 4,880 kilometers and a mass of 3.3 x 10^23 kilograms, making it only slightly larger than Earth's moon. Mercury is a rocky, terrestrial planet with a heavily cratered surface and a thin atmosphere composed mostly of helium and trace amounts of other gases. The planet has a slow rotation and completes three rotations for every two orbits around the sun, resulting in a day that is longer than its year. Mercury has no moons or rings and is the second hottest planet after Venus, with a maximum temperature of 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius) on its daytime side due to its proximity to the sun. Mercury was first observed and studied by ancient civilizations, including the Babylonians and Greeks, and has been explored by multiple spacecraft in recent decades, including NASA's MESSENGER mission.
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 South direction at an altitude of 46.98° above the horizon.
- Given its current magnitude, Mercury is visible to the naked eye, easy and bright under dark skies, might be more difficult from heavily 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.
Finder Charts
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Jul 21 | 09h 50m 37s | +12° 19’ 44” | 0.42 | 7.7” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 22 | 09h 54m 09s | +11° 48’ 46” | 0.45 | 7.8” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 23 | 09h 57m 27s | +11° 18’ 24” | 0.49 | 7.9” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 24 | 10h 00m 33s | +10° 48’ 45” | 0.52 | 8.1” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 25 | 10h 03m 27s | +10° 19’ 55” | 0.56 | 8.2” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 26 | 10h 06m 06s | +09° 52’ 00” | 0.60 | 8.4” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 27 | 10h 08m 32s | +09° 25’ 07” | 0.64 | 8.5” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 28 | 10h 10m 42s | +08° 59’ 23” | 0.69 | 8.7” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 29 | 10h 12m 38s | +08° 34’ 54” | 0.74 | 8.8” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 30 | 10h 14m 18s | +08° 11’ 48” | 0.80 | 9.0” | Leo |
| 2024 Jul 31 | 10h 15m 43s | +07° 50’ 13” | 0.86 | 9.1” | Leo |
| 2024 Aug 01 | 10h 16m 51s | +07° 30’ 16” | 0.93 | 9.3” | Leo |
| 2024 Aug 02 | 10h 17m 42s | +07° 12’ 07” | 1.01 | 9.5” | Leo |
| 2024 Aug 03 | 10h 18m 16s | +06° 55’ 55” | 1.10 | 9.6” | Leo |
Additional Resources
- Position and finder charts (see also Where is Mercury?)
- Distance from Earth (see also How far is Mercury from Earth?)
- When does Mercury rise and set?
- Brightness (see also How bright is Mercury?)
- Physical data. Detailed information about physical properties of Mercury, such as mass and geometric properties.
- 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Mercury for the past and next 7 days.
- Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Mercury in the sky from your location.
- Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Mercury with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.