Is Mercury the morning star right now?
Mercury is too close to the Sun for easy viewing right now, just 4.5° away: it passed inferior conjunction on November 4, 2026 and is climbing back into the morning sky over the coming weeks.
The next dates that matter, in UTC, computed by CycleCalcs: Direct motion resumes on November 13, 2026. Greatest western elongation, the peak of a morning apparition, comes on November 20, 2026 (19.6° from the Sun). Mercury passes superior conjunction on January 1, 2027 and crosses into the evening sky.
As of . With JavaScript on, the readout and countdowns recompute live on your device, and the readout follows the time scrubber below.
Mercury right now
Without JavaScript this panel shows the state at the timestamp above; the numbers on this page were computed at build time from the same engine the live view uses.
The 116-day cycle, live
The ring is one full synodic cycle of Mercury (one "apparition cycle": morning-sky spell, evening-sky spell, and the two conjunctions between them): 0° at the top is inferior conjunction, 180° at the bottom is superior conjunction, and the marker is where Mercury sits right now. Inside the ring, the orbits and positions of the Sun, Earth and Mercury are to scale; the dots themselves are enlarged to stay visible. Drag the slider to move through the cycle and watch all three angles of the Sun-Earth-Mercury triangle change together; they always sum to 180°.
- Mercury at the scrubbed instant
- conjunctions (Sun-centred alignment) and greatest elongations (widest from the Sun in our sky)
- retrograde stations
The scrubber covers one cycle back and two cycles forward. Numbers while scrubbing are computed live on your device with the same engine as the API.
Every transition in the coming cycle, with countdowns
Computed, not copied: the same shared calculation drives this table, the API and the live view above. Conjunction instants use the classical heliocentric convention; greatest-elongation instants are flat extrema, so treat their times as good to the hour.
| Date (UTC) | Countdown | Event | What changes for an observer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-13 | in 7 days | Station, direct motion resumes | Mercury appears to stand still again, then resumes its normal eastward drift against the stars. |
| 2026-11-20 | in 14 days | Greatest western elongation (19.6°) | The morning apparition peaks: Mercury stands as far from the Sun as this cycle allows, and its longest morning visibility falls in the weeks around this date. |
| 2027-01-01 | in 56 days | Superior conjunction (1.8°) | Mercury passes behind the Sun, invisible in the glare, and crosses from the morning sky into the evening sky. |
| 2027-02-03 | in 89 days | Greatest eastern elongation (18.3°) | The evening apparition peaks: Mercury stands as far from the Sun as this cycle allows, and its longest evening visibility falls in the weeks around this date. |
| 2027-02-09 | in 95 days | Station, retrograde begins | Mercury appears to stand still against the stars, then drifts westward (retrograde) for the weeks around inferior conjunction. |
| 2027-02-18 | in 104 days | Inferior conjunction (3.7°) | Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun, invisible in the glare, and crosses from the evening sky into the morning sky. |
| 2027-03-03 | in 117 days | Station, direct motion resumes | Mercury appears to stand still again, then resumes its normal eastward drift against the stars. |
With a location chosen above, this table also gains up to two approximate rows, first and last visibility for the apparitions in view, estimated for your coordinates from a simple twilight-altitude rule. They depend on your horizon and the clarity of the air, so treat them as a window, not an appointment.
The 22-petaled rosette
Twenty-two of these cycles come to just under seven years, so the Earth-to-Mercury line traces a dense 22-petaled rosette that nearly closes every seven years. The curve below is the line from Earth to Mercury, traced over 7 years.
Method, honestly stated
Every number on this page is computed, not copied, and is reliable for the years 1700 to 2200; the method is public. The event dates are the same instants the CycleCalcs API serves at /v2/planet-events: conjunctions use the classical heliocentric relative-longitude definition (apparent geocentric instants can differ by minutes up to more than an hour), station times come from the same root-finder as the retrograde board, and greatest-elongation instants are flat extrema quoted to the hour. Rise, set and twilight numbers include standard atmospheric refraction.
Frequently asked questions
When does Mercury next switch between evening star and morning star?
On January 1, 2027, at superior conjunction, Mercury crosses into the evening sky. It is lost in the Sun's glare around that date: for several weeks around a superior conjunction.
How far from the Sun does Mercury appear to get in the sky?
At most about 28 degrees of sky, roughly three fist-widths at arm's length. The next peak is November 20, 2026 at 19.6 degrees, its greatest western (morning) elongation.
Why does this page not list a greatest brilliancy date for Mercury?
Mercury's brightness peaks at superior conjunction, when it sits behind the Sun and cannot be observed, so the date would be useless for observing. Venus peaks in a dark sky; Mercury does not.
Keep exploring
- Mercury: facts and cycles: the full fact page, with apparition tables
- Mercury retrograde dates: exact station times, 2025 to 2031
- Which planets are retrograde right now: the live status board for all eight planets
- Synodic period calculator: where the 116-day rhythm comes from
- Venus tracker: the same live tracker for Venus's 584-day cycle.