Mercury at Superior Conjunction

Today Mercury will be at superior conjunction. After today the planet will reappear in the evening sky, rising high enough from the Sun’s glow to be seen around the end of the month.

Superior conjunction is when the planet passes around the far side of the Sun as seen from Earth. For a few weeks the planet will be lost in the Sun’s glare, hidden from view.

As Mercury is on an orbit inside that of Earth’s it will see both inferior and superior conjunctions as it passes from the evening sky to the dawn sky and back again.

Mercury Events for 2017
		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