Where is Mercury tonight?

Mercury in 3D

Mercury lit by the Sun at this moment and seen from Earth’s direction, so its phase matches what a telescope shows. Drag to turn it. The time slider moves the light and the rotation.

Where to find Mercury among the stars

Two finder charts for today: a wide field to find the right part of the sky and a closer field with fainter stars. North is up and east on the left, as the sky looks to the naked eye. The dotted line marks its path over the coming weeks, one dot per week.

Stars: HYG Database. Constellation figures: Stellarium. Deep-sky objects: OpenNGC (Messier objects marked M).

Visibility over the next 12 months

Angle between Mercury and the Sun on the 15th of each month. The further from the Sun, the darker the sky around it. Colour shows whether it is in the evening or the morning sky.

Ephemeris for the next 15 days

Position at 0:00 UTC each day as seen from the centre of the Earth (apparent coordinates of date), calculated with Astronomy Engine.

Distance from Earth

Distance from Earth over the past and the coming year. The closest approach in this period: June 21, 2027, 83.0 million km.

Brightness

Visual magnitude over the same two years. Higher on the chart is brighter.

Coming up

• Nov 20, 2026Mercury at greatest elongation (morning sky)
• Feb 3, 2027Mercury at greatest elongation (evening sky)
• Feb 7, 2027Moon near Mercury
• Mar 6, 2027Moon near Mercury
• Mar 17, 2027Mercury at greatest elongation (morning sky)
• May 28, 2027Mercury at greatest elongation (evening sky)
• Jun 6, 2027Moon near Mercury
• Jul 15, 2027Mercury at greatest elongation (morning sky)

Facts

Moon count: NASA, page updated April 25, 2025

Source: NASA planetary fact sheet (Oct 12, 2026). Calculated with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library verified against the US Naval Observatory and NASA JPL. Data sources

Gravity compared: Mercury and Earth

Drop, jump and throw side by side: Mercury on one side, Earth or any other world on the other. Pick a world to compare, or open the full tool. Open the gravity tool

Latest NASA images of Mercury

The newest images about it in NASA’s Photojournal, updated daily. Open one for NASA’s full caption and the original file.

NASA news about Mercury

• Apr 17, 2019A Closer Look at Mercury’s Spin and Gravity Reveals the Planet’s Inner Solid Core
• Mar 29, 201945 Years Ago: Mariner 10 First to Explore Mercury
• Mar 12, 2019What Scientists Found After Sifting Through Dust in the Solar System
• Jan 18, 2018NASA Team Studies Middle-aged Sun by Tracking Motion of Mercury
• Sep 29, 2017Small Collisions Make Big Impact on Mercury’s Thin Atmosphere
• Apr 5, 2017NASA Television to Air Service Honoring Legacy of John Glenn

Headlines from NASA’s news feeds (in English), updated daily. Last checked October 13, 2026.

Discoveries and exploration

Key moments in the study of Mercury, each linked to its source.

1. March 29, 1974Mariner 10, the first spacecraft sent to Mercury, makes its first flyby at a range of 703 km. Source
2. March 16, 1975Mariner 10's third and closest flyby passes about 327 km from Mercury. Source
3. 1991The Arecibo radio telescope detects radar-bright patches at Mercury's poles, consistent with water ice. Source
4. January 14, 2008NASA's MESSENGER makes the first of its three Mercury flybys. Source
5. March 18, 2011MESSENGER enters orbit, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. Source
6. November 29, 2012MESSENGER results give compelling support for abundant water ice in Mercury's permanently shadowed polar craters. Source
7. April 30, 2015Out of propellant, MESSENGER ends its mission by impacting Mercury's surface, creating a new crater. Source
8. October 20, 2018ESA and JAXA launch BepiColombo, two orbiters travelling together to Mercury. Source
9. October 1, 2021BepiColombo makes its first Mercury flyby and sends back images. Source · Recent NASA photos
10. January 8, 2025BepiColombo makes its sixth and final Mercury flyby, passing 295 km above the surface. Source

Checked against the linked NASA, ESA and NOAA pages on October 10, 2026.

How to use this page

Choose your place and a night at the top: tonight by default, or one of the dates under it. The tiles show when Mercury rises, is highest and sets, and the numbers that matter for that night. Below them you find where it is right now, the sky in 3D with Mercury marked, finder charts, the year ahead and the facts.

What the numbers mean

Rises and sets

When the top edge of the disc meets a flat horizon, with the bending of light by the air included, as in almanacs. A time on another day carries its date.

Highest

When it crosses the meridian, due south or due north, and its height above the horizon then.

Direction and height

The compass point and azimuth to face, counted from north through east, and the angle above the horizon. A fist at arm’s length covers about 10°.

Distance and apparent size

How far away it is from Earth’s centre at that moment and how wide it looks in the sky, in arcminutes (′) or arcseconds (″).

Magnitude

Brightness: the smaller the number, the brighter. About 6 is the faintest the eye sees under a dark sky.

How accurate it is

Positions and times come from Astronomy Engine. In our tests positions agree with NASA JPL’s Horizons to within one arcminute, and rise and set times of the Sun and the Moon to within two minutes. Times assume a flat horizon at your place, so hills and buildings change when you actually see it rise or set. Methodology

Frequently asked questions