MERCURY REACHES GREATEST WESTERN ELONGATION – ONE OF THE BEST TIMES TO OBSERVE THE SPEEDY AND ELUSIVE PLANET MERCURY TOMORROW MORNING! – 19/08/2025 💖✨️
Here's one for all you early birds and/or all-night stargazers!
On the morning of the 19th of August, the speedy planet Mercury will appear at its furthest distance (around 18.5 degrees) away from the Sun in our pre-sunrise morning sky, this event is known as “Greatest Western Elongation”.
WHEN/WHERE TO LOOK
If you look towards the East-Northeast in the early morning twilight before sunrise on the morning of the 19th, you might be able to spot a fairly bright star-like point of light below and left of the super bright planet Venus and bright planet Jupiter - this is the planet Mercury!
Mercury will rise above the Northeastern horizon at roughly 4:03 BST but will be easier to observe a little later once it has risen higher.
Another little tip to help you locate Mercury is if you draw an imaginary line between Jupiter and Venus and continue following the line down and left past Venus, this will help point you in the right direction to find Mercury.
Don't worry if you don't get to see Mercury on the 19th, although it will appear at its furthest distance away from the Sun tomorrow morning, several mornings after the 19th will offer some great opportunities to observe Mercury too.
MERCURY – THE SPEEDY AND ELUSIVE PLANET
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Because of its proximity to the Sun, its orbital period around the Sun is very short/fast compared to the other planets in the solar system, taking only 88 days to complete and orbit around the Sun. Also because of its proximity to the Sun, Mercury is often extremely hard to observe due to it always appearing in the bright glare of sunlight during the twilight just before sunrise or just after sunset.
Although it is often very hard to observe, there are a couple of times during Mercury’s speedy orbit around the Sun where it appears at its further away from the sun from our viewpoint here on Earth. At these times Mercury is a little bit easier to observe, these events are known as Greatest Eastern Elongation or Greatest Western Elongation.
OTHER PLANETARY/LUNAR CELESTIAL EVENTS TO LOOK OUT FOR
There are quite a few planets that are visible in our night and early morning skies at the moments and some people are calling this period of time another “Planetary Alignment/Parade”. The planets Saturn, Venus and Jupiter as well as Mercury are all fairly easy to spot at this moment in time and there will also be some special interactions with the Moon over the next few days too!
Keep an eye out on our page for more information on these special celestial events, or you could always go and watch our night sky guide video for August…..
WHAT ELSE IS IN THE NIGHT SKY THROUGHOUT AUGUST?
If you would like to know more about the other amazing night time sights that can be seen throughout August, please head to our YouTube channel (@Astrodoguk) to watch our Night Sky Guide video for August 2025.
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES!
We always love hearing about your celestial adventures! If you head out to witness this event or any other sights in the night sky, please feel free to share your stories in the comments below.
GOOD LUCK AND CLEAR SKIES!
We at Astro Dog are excited about the celestial events we have coming up soon and hope that some of you get the opportunity to observe the Greatest Western Elongation of Mercury!
If you head out to enjoy the night sky at any time in the near future, we wish you good luck and clear skies!