Planets, good from here

Mercury’s best morning showing of the year

Mercury reaches 28 degrees from the Sun and climbs unusually high in the eastern dawn sky, below brilliant Venus.

When
Wednesday, 17 March 2027, 08:56 CAT
Best time
04:50 to 05:30 CAT on Wednesday, 17 March 2027
Where to look
East, low, below Venus
From Zimbabwe
Good from here. An hour before sunrise Mercury is about 13 degrees up in the east, with Venus about 22 degrees up.
Mercury
The innermost planet, mapped by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington, Public domain (NASA).

Mercury is never far from the Sun and is the hardest naked-eye planet to see. In mid-March 2027 it reaches its greatest angle west of the Sun, and from the Southern Hemisphere it stands well clear of the horizon before dawn. Venus, much brighter, sits above it and makes a good guide.

Tips for watching

Find Venus first, then look below it. Binoculars help, but put them away before the Sun rises.

Times are Central Africa Time, worked out for Harare; other towns in Zimbabwe differ by a few minutes. Source: Computed for Harare with Astronomy Engine.

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