Today Mercury is passing through superior conjunction, passing around the far side of the Sun as seen from our earthbound vantage point. This fast moving planet will reappear in the sunset in about a week, rising towards maximum elongation on February 26th.
This will be a modest apparition, with the planet only 18° from the Sun at maximum. The next evening apparition in June is much better, reaching over 25° from the Sun.
Mercury Events for 2019 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Apparition | Date | Elongation | Magnitude |
Evening | Feb 27 | 18.1°E | -0.2 |
Morning | Apr 11 | 27.7°W | +0.6 |
Evening | Jun 23 | 25.2°E | +0.7 |
Morning | Aug 9 | 19.0°W | +0.3 |
Evening | Oct 20 | 24.6°E | +0.1 |
Morning | Nov 28 | 20.1°W | -0.3 |
Data from the Mercury Chaser’s Calculator by John Walker |