Today Mercury reaches maximum elongation, the furthest point it will reach from the Sun in the sky and the highest it will be above the sunrise for this morning apparition. The planet is easily visible as a bright, starlike object about 19° above the rising Sun as the twilight begins. Over the next couple weeks Mercury will slide back into the sunrise, heading for superior conjunction on August 24th.
As Mercury passes through maximum elongation it is part of a trio of bright planets in the morning sky. Higher in the sky you will also see Jupiter and Mars dancing in the dawn.
Mercury Events for 2013 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date UT | Date HST | Separation | |||
| Superior Conjunction | Jan 18 | 08:44UT | Jan 17 | 22:44HST | |
| Maximum Elongation | Feb 16 | 20:59UT | Feb 16 | 10:59HST | 18.1°E |
| Inferior Conjunction | Mar 4 | 12:55UT | Mar 4 | 02:55HST | |
| Maximum Elongation | Mar 31 | 21:59UT | Mar 31 | 11:59HST | 27.8°W |
| Superior Conjunction | May 11 | 20:57UT | May 11 | 10:57HST | |
| Maximum Elongation | Jun 12 | 16:59UT | Jun 12 | 06:59HST | 24.3°E |
| Inferior Conjunction | Jul 9 | 18:39UT | Jul 9 | 08:39HST | |
| Maximum Elongation | Jul 30 | 08:59UT | Jul 29 | 22:59HST | 19.6°W |
| Superior Conjunction | Aug 24 | 20:37UT | Aug 24 | 10:37HST | |
| Maximum Elongation | Oct 9 | 09:59UT | Oct 8 | 23:59HST | 25.3°E |
| Inferior Conjunction | Nov 1 | 20:12UT | Nov 1 | 10:12HST | |
| Maximum Elongation | Nov 18 | 01:59UT | Nov 17 | 15:59HST | 19.5°W |
| Superior Conjunction | Dec 29 | 06:00UT | Dec 28 | 20:00HST | |
| Source: NASA Sky Calendar and the Mercury Chaser’s Calculator | |||||
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