SKY EVENT · Greatest elongation

Mercury at greatest eastern elongation, 21 April 2029

Mercury reaches its greatest eastern elongation on 21 April 2029 around 13:25 UTC: it stands 20.1° from the Sun in the evening sky. This is the best time to observe it, because it is as far from the Sun as it gets after sunset.

Visibility from Hungary (calculated for Budapest): the best moment to observe is 21 April 2029, 20:55 CEST: the target stands 6° high in the north-west, under a dark sky. The calculation is for Budapest; elsewhere in the country rise and set times differ by only a few minutes.

In the page's interactive 3D model the time machine jumps to this moment (21 April 2029) and the camera takes the view that fits the event: a sky view from the visitor's city or Budapest. You can freely scrub time forwards and backwards.

Planet positions come from our own approximate calculation (about 0.1-1° accuracy, times within a few hours).