Today Mercury will be at maximum eastern elongation, as high in the evening sky as it will appear for this current apparition. After today the planet will slide back into the sunset, passing through inferior conjunction on December 12th to reappear in the morning sky around the end of the year.
There are no transits of Mercury in 2017, the next will be Nov 11, 2019.
Mercury Events for 2017 |
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Date UT | Separation | Mag | ||
Maximum Elongation | Jan 19 | 24.1°W | +0.0 | |
Superior Conjunction | Mar 6 | |||
Maximum Elongation | Apr 1 | 19.0°E | +0.2 | |
Inferior Conjunction | Apr 19 | |||
Maximum Elongation | May 17 | 25.8°W | +0.7 | |
Superior Conjunction | Jun 21 | |||
Maximum Elongation | Jul 30 | 27.2°E | +0.6 | |
Inferior Conjunction | Aug 26 | |||
Maximum Elongation | Sep 12 | 17.9°W | -0.1 | |
Superior Conjunction | Oct 8 | |||
Maximum Elongation | Nov 24 | 22.0°E | -0.1 | |
Inferior Conjunction | Dec 12 | |||
Source: NASA Sky Calendar and the Mercury Chaser’s Calculator |