Mercury Sightings 2025

Mercury has seven elongations in 2025. The initial sighting by Joe Stieber for each of these is tabulated below:

Sequence	Initial Sighting Date (2025)	Observing Location	Greatest Elongation (2025)
1	February 25, 6:09 pm EST, #90	Bishops Gate, Mt Laurel, NJ	March 8, eastern (evening)
2	April 9, 5:58 am EDT, #91	Wharton State Forest, NJ	April 21, western (morning)
3			July 4, eastern (evening)
4			August 19, western (morning)
5			October 29, eastern (evening)
6			December 7, western (morning)

● The first sighting of the second elongation for 2025 (the 91st elongation in a row overall) was on April 9, 2025, from Carranza Field in Wharton State Forest, NJ, under a clear sky, even along the horizon. Astronomical twilight began at 4:55 am EDT and sunrise was at 6:30 am. Mercury was first spotted at 5:58 am with a 35x115 spotting scope, then with 15x56 binoculars at 6:00 am. It was never seen with unaided eyes. When initially sighted, Mercury was at 3°21′ altitude, 95° azimuth, magnitude +1.25, 9.9″ diameter and 24% illuminated, although no sign of the crescent shape was observed at the low altitude (with turbulent seeing). Solar elongation was 13.5°, the ecliptic had a shallow tilt of 27° to the horizon and Mercury's ecliptic latitude was –0.5°.

The primary reason for the trip to Carranza was to spot new comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN) for the first time, which it was at 4:59 am with the 115 mm scope (but not with the 15x56s). When that disappeared into the increasing twilight, I shifted position on the field and spotted brilliant Venus at 5:28 am with unaided eyes. In the scope, it had a distinct, thickening crescent. After it rose higher, I used Venus as a guide to find Mercury as noted above, 6.3° from Venus at the 5:30 o'clock position. Without Venus as a guide, I probably wouldn't have found dim Mercury in the brightening twilight. From Mercury I found Saturn with the scope at 6:02 am, 2.1° away at the 4 o'clock position, but it was not seen with the binoculars. Saturn's rings were not apparent in the scope (since they're close to being edge-on and the seeing was poor at the low altitude). The first object I saw after arrival was the asteroid (4) Vesta in Libra at 4:50 am with the 15s56s. At magnitude +6.2, it was bright in the binoculars and it may become a naked-eye object around opposition on May 2, 2025 (at magnitude +5.6 to +5.8, depending on the source).

● The first sighting of the first elongation for 2025 (the 90th elongation in a row overall) was on February 25, 2025, from Bishops Gate in Mt Laurel, NJ, under a clear sky, even along the horizon. Sunset was at 5:47 pm EST and astronomical twilight ended at 7:17 pm. Mercury was first spotted at 6:09 pm EST with 12x50 binoculars, and at 6:26 pm, was plainly visible with unaided eyes. When initially sighted, Mercury was at 8°03′ altitude, 258° azimuth, magnitude –1.15, 5.7″ diameter and 85% illuminated. Solar elongation was 13.5°, the ecliptic had a steep tilt of 73° to the horizon and Mercury's ecliptic latitude was –0.4°. It was also viewed with an 88 mm apo spotting scope at 25x and ghostly Saturn, 1.7° below-left of Mercury, was in the same 2.4° field of view at 6:17 pm. Saturn was seen with the 12x50s at 6:25 pm. Brilliant Venus was self-evident with unaided eyes on arrival at 6:05 pm, and later, it's 17.4% crescent was observed at 60x88. Jupiter and Mars were spotted with unaided eyes at 6:18 pm, then Uranus with the 12x50s at 6:30 pm. I searched for Neptune, about 8° above-left of Mercury, with the 88 mm scope at 25 to 60x from about 6:30 pm until 6:45 pm, but failed to see it, even though the field stars, 27 and 29 Psc were located. Those stars form the nearby blade of the hockey stick asterism, which has been used this apparition as a location aid. I was able to see a magnitude 7.1 star (HD 224639) between the blade and Neptune, but could not see the magnitude 8.0 planet. Suburban light pollution and thickening atmosphere at the low altitude (declining from about 11° to 8°) took their toll.

● The second sighting of the first elongation for 2025 was on February 28, 2025, from Bishops Gate in Mt Laurel, NJ, under a largely clear sky, but there were streaky clouds especially towards the western horizon. Sunset was at 5:51 pm EST and astronomical twilight ended at 7:21 pm. Mercury was first spotted at 6:13 pm EST with 12x50 binoculars, and at 6:20 pm, with unaided eyes. When initially sighted, Mercury was at 10.1° altitude, 260° azimuth, magnitude –1.02, 6.0″ diameter and 76% illuminated. Solar elongation was 15.6°, the ecliptic had a steep tilt of 74° to the horizon and Mercury's ecliptic latitude was +0.2°. Subsequently, it was readily seen with unaided eyes. Brilliant Venus was self-evident with unaided eyes on arrival at 6:11 pm, while bright Jupiter and Mars were also spotted later with unaided eyes. Uranus with seen the 12x50s at 6:48 pm. I did not attempt to spot Saturn or Neptune, both low in the residual twilight. Here's a snapshot of Mercury...

Mercury (left of center) was captured on February 28, 2025, at 6:40 pm with a Canon EOS RP DSLM camera and Canon 400 mm f/5.6L telephoto lens on a fixed tripod. It was exposed 1/25 second at f/5.6, ISO 12,800, automatic white balance. It's uncropped for a field 5.1° wide x 3.4° high.

● The third sighting of the first elongation for 2025 was on March 1, 2025, at 6:38 pm EST from Maple Shade, NJ, serendipitously while looking through the windshield of my car with unaided eyes as I headed to the local baseball field to observe the pairing of Venus and the Crescent Moon. When initially sighted, Mercury was at 6.4° altitude, 264° azimuth, magnitude –0.95, 6.2″ diameter and 72% illuminated. Solar elongation was 16.2°, the ecliptic had a steep tilt of 73° to the horizon and Mercury's ecliptic latitude was +0.4°. Sunset was at 5:52 pm.

● The fourth sighting of the first elongation for 2025 was on March 3, 2025, at 6:20 pm EST during a Star Watch at the James H. Johnson Elementary School in Cherry Hill, NJ. It was initially spotted with 12x50 binoculars then with unaided eyes, following it down into the distant trees. When initially sighted, Mercury was at 11.2° altitude, 262° azimuth, magnitude –0.80, 6.5″ diameter and 65% illuminated. Solar elongation was 17.3°, the ecliptic had a steep tilt of 73° to the horizon and Mercury's ecliptic latitude was +0.9°. Sunset was at 5:54 pm.

● The fifth sighting of the first elongation for 2025 was on March 9, 2025, at 7:20 pm EST with 8x42 binoculars, then at 7:32 pm with unaided eyes at Bishops Gate in Mt Laurel, NJ. I went to get a snapshot of Mercury 6° from Venus as they both head towards inferior conjunction with the Sun on March 22 & 24 (EDT) for Venus and Mercury respectively. When initially sighted, Mercury was at 13.5° altitude, 265° azimuth, magnitude 0.0, 7.7″ diameter and 38% illuminated. Solar elongation was 18.1°, the ecliptic had a steep tilt of 73.5° to the horizon and Mercury's ecliptic latitude was +2.3°. Sunset was at 7:01 pm.

● The sixth sighting of the first elongation for 2025 was on March 11, 2025, at 7:19 pm EST with 8x42 binoculars, then at 7:32 pm was first glimpsed with unaided eyes at Bishops Gate in Mt Laurel, NJ. Mercury was about 5.6° from Venus at the 8:30 o'clock position. When viewed with an 88 mm apo spotting scope at 60x, Mercury showed a thick crescent (30% illuminated) in moments of steadier seeing. When initially sighted, Mercury was at 13.5° altitude, 267° azimuth, magnitude +0.43, 8.2″ diameter and 30% illuminated. Solar elongation was 17.4°, the ecliptic had a steep tilt of 73.6° to the horizon and Mercury's ecliptic latitude was +2.7°. Sunset was at 7:03 pm.

● The seventh sighting of the first elongation for 2025 was on March 12, 2025, from Bishops Gate in Mt Laurel, NJ, at 7:19 pm EST with an 88 mm spotting scope at 25x. At 60x, there was a distinct crescent in moments of better seeing, then the shape deteriorated as it descended in darkening twilight. Mercury was about 5.5° from bright Venus at the 8:30 o'clock position, so it was located by shifting sideways from Venus. At 7:30 pm, it was visible with unaided eyes. When initially sighted, Mercury was at 13.1° altitude, 267° azimuth, magnitude +0.68, 8.5″ diameter and 26% illuminated. Solar elongation was 16.8°, the ecliptic had a steep tilt of 74° to the horizon and Mercury's ecliptic latitude was +2.9°. Sunset was at 7:04 pm.

● The eighth sighting of the first elongation for 2025 was on March 14, 2025, from Bishops Gate in Mt Laurel, NJ, at 7:19 pm EST with an 88 mm spotting scope at 25x. At 60x, there was a distinct crescent in moments of better seeing, then the shape deteriorated as it descended in darkening twilight. Mercury was about 5.7° from bright Venus at the 9:30 o'clock position, so it was located by shifting sideways from Venus. Mercury was seen with 8x42 binoculars, but never seen with unaided eyes. It has faded significantly, and with a few days of cloudiness predicted, this might be the view of this elongation. When initially sighted, Mercury was at 12.1° altitude, 269° azimuth, magnitude +1.25, 9.0″ diameter and 18% illuminated. Solar elongation was 15.3°, the ecliptic had a steep tilt of 74° to the horizon and Mercury's ecliptic latitude was +3.2°. Sunset was at 7:06 pm.

● The ninth sighting of the first elongation for 2025 was on March 17 2025, from Bishops Gate in Mt Laurel, NJ. The sighting was an unexpected byproduct of spotting Venus as it approaches inferior conjunction on March 22. Although Venus was only 2.0% illuminated, it was easy to see with unaided eyes by 7:30 pm, but its very thin crescent as viewed in an 88 mm spotting scope at 60x was bloated by horrible seeing. Since Mercury was about 6° from Venus (to the left and a little higher), I decided to look for Mercury by scanning left left of Venus at 25x with the scope. I found Mercury as a dim blotch of light (disc-like, as a planet, not like a star), but the poor seeing obscured any sign of its crescent. I lost it once when I bumped the scope grabbing my hat during a wind gust, but I was able to find it again. It was not seen with 8x42 binoculars, let alone unaided eyes. When initially sighted, Mercury was at 5.9° altitude, 274° azimuth, magnitude +2.32, 9.8″ diameter and 9% illuminated. Solar elongation was 12.0°, the ecliptic had a steep tilt of 73° to the horizon and Mercury's ecliptic latitude was +3.5°. Sunset was at 7:09 pm.

The current streak is now 91 elongations in a row, continuing with the fifteenth calendar year of spotting Mercury at every elongation beginning in January 2011. There are six or seven elongations per year. The years 2011, 2015, 2018, 2022 and 2024 each had seven (7) elongations, while 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 each had six (6), as does 2025. The 89 elongations in the previous 14 years averaged 6.36 elongations per year. Click here for sightings in 2024. The purpose of this ongoing effort is not to set some record, especially since I have no idea what sort of record might exist. My note to Gary Seronik that was published in S&T magazine (see the 2022 Mercury page) yielded no responses. Regardless, it demonstrates that locating and seeing Mercury is not nearly as difficult as many suppose. It just takes a little planning and effort, although circumstances make some elongations easy and some difficult.