The Sky Today on Monday, October 12: Mercury at greatest elongation

The planet Mercury stands 25° east of the Sun. View the solar system’s smallest planet, along with the crescent Moon, in the evening sky. | Published: October 12, 2026 Although Mercury is only briefly visible in the evenings, try on Oct. 12, when it is near the delicate crescent Moon. Credit: Astronomy: Roen Kelly Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. October 11: Mars meets the Beehive Mercury reaches its greatest eastern elongation from the Sun at 6 A.M. EDT today, standing 25° from our star. The Moon then passes 2° south of Mercury at 4 P.M. EDT. Both are now in Libra. By evening, our satellite sits to the lower left of bright Mercury, and both are visible for a short time in the west after sunset. Mercury shines at magnitude 0.0 and should pop out quickly in the twilight — which is fortunate, as it’s just 4.5° high 20 minutes after sunset. Look for it some 3.5° to the upper right (north) of the delicate waxing crescent Moon, now some 6% lit. You might have good luck spotting the planet in binoculars or a finder scope before you can see it with your eyes — just make sure not to pull out any optical aid until at least several minutes after the Sun has disappeared below the horizon. Through a telescope, Mercury spans 7” and appears 60% lit. The planet sets shortly after 7 P.M. local daylight time. Sunrise: 7:08 A.M. Sunset: 6:25 P.M. Moonrise: 9:20 A.M. Moonset: 7:08 P.M. Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (6%) *Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location. Alison Klesman is senior editor of Astronomy magazine. She holds a Ph.D. in astronomy and has studied a variety of topics, from minor planets to supermassive black holes.