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Solar
Planet

Mercury

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Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.464 AU
True anomaly
192.92°
Distance from Earth
1.169 AU
As of
2 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Sun Earth — 1.001 AU from the Sun Earth Mercury — 0.464 AU from the Sun Mercury
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Mercury is 1.169 AU from Earth today (9.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 01m 53s
Declination
-14° 27′ 25″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.16 AU
Elongation from the Sun
23.25° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it's up after dark, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
0.387 AU
Eccentricity
0.2056
Inclination
7°
Orbital period
88 days
Perihelion
0.307 AU
Aphelion
0.467 AU
Longitude of ascending node
48.33°
Argument of periapsis
29.12°
Epoch · J2000
J2000

Physical properties

Mean radius
2,440 km
Equatorial radius
2,441 km
Polar radius
2,438 km
Mass
3.301 × 10²³ kg
Density
5.429 g/cm³
Rotation period
58.65 days
Axial tilt
0.03°
Surface gravity
3.7 m/s²
Escape velocity
4.3 km/s
GM
22,032 km³/s²
Ellipticity
0.0009
J₂ · × 10⁻⁶
50.3
Moment of inertia · I/MR²
0.35
Length of day
175.94 days
Synodic period
115.9 days
Mean orbital speed
47.36 km/s
Black-body temperature
439.6 K
Solar irradiance
9,082.7 W/m²

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.142
Bond albedo
0.068
V(1,0) magnitude
-0.61
Representative colour
#8C7853

Atmosphere

Surface pressure · <~5 x 10 -15 bar (0.005 picobar)
15 bar
Temperature · 440 K (167 C) (590-725 K, sunward side)
440 K

Composition by volume

  • Potassium 800 1,300 %
  • Calcium 300 1,000 %

Source: NASA Planetary Fact Sheet.

Sources