Greatest elongations of Mercury and Venus

Because Mercury and Venus orbit closer to the sun than Earth, they never appear on the opposite side of the sky from the sun. Instead, they reach greatest elongation from the sun and start heading back toward it. Mercury is closest to the sun and never gets more than about 27° from it in our sky. It will go from morning to evening in just a few weeks and from evening to morning in just a few more weeks. Venus has a slower orbit and gets up to about 46° from the sun. It will go from greatest elongation to greatest elongation over several months. Indeed, it's not unusual for the morning to evening events to be more than a year apart!

Below is a list of dates and times for Mercury and Venus to be at greatest elongation from 2010 to 2029. The number in parentheses is how many degrees east or west of the sun the planet is.


Planet Evening (east of sun) Morning (west of sun)
Mercury  
April 8, 2010 - 23:32 (19.4°)
August 7, 2010 - 01:03 (27.4°)
December 1, 2010 - 15:42 (21.5°)
March 23, 2011 - 01:07 (18.6°)
July 20, 2011 - 04:56 (26.8°)
November 14, 2011 - 08:40 (22.7°)
March 5, 2012 - 09:39 (18.2°)
July 1, 2012 - 02:00 (25.7°)
October 26, 2012 - 21:59 (24.1°)
February 16, 2013 - 21:24 (18.1°)
June 12, 2013 - 16:45 (24.3°)
October 9, 2013 - 09:59 (25.3°)
January 31, 2014 - 10:00 (18.4°)
May 25, 2014 - 07:06 (22.7°)
September 21, 2014 - 22:20 (26.4°)
January 14, 2015 - 20:26 (18.9°)
May 7, 2015 - 04:46 - (21.2°)
September 4, 2015 - 10:20 (27.1°)
December 29, 2015 - 03:11 (19.7°)
April 18, 2016 - 14:00 (19.9°)
August 16, 2016 - 21:24 (27.4°)
December 11, 2016 - 04:36 (20.8°)
April 1, 2017 - 10:24 (19.0°)
July 30, 2017 - 04:34 (27.2°)
November 24, 2017 - 00:32 (22.0°)
March 15, 2018 - 15:07 (18.4°)
July 12, 2018 - 05:24 (26.4°)
November 6, 2018 - 15:25 (23.3°)
February 27, 2019 - 01:23 (18.1°)
June 23, 2019 - 23:14 (25.2°)
October 20, 2019 - 04:00 (24.6°)
February 10, 2020 - 13:58 (18.2°)
June 4, 2020 - 13:11 (23.6°)
October 1, 2020 - 16:21 (25.8°)
January 24, 2021 - 01:57 (18.6°)
May 17, 2021 - 05:46 (22°)
September 14, 2021 - 04:19 (26.8°)
January 7, 2022 - 10:58 (19.2°)
April 29, 2022 - 07:59 (20.6°)
August 27, 2022 - 16:19 (27.3°)
December 21, 2022 - 15:39 (20.1°)
April 11, 2023 - 22:15 (19.5°)
August 10, 2023 - 01:54 (27.4°)
December 4, 2023 - 14:34 (21.3°)
March 24, 2024 - 22:35 (18.7°)
July 22, 2024 - 06:49 (26.9°)
November 16, 2024 - 07:59 (22.6°)
March 8, 2025 - 06:12 (18.2°)
July 4, 2025 - 04:33 (25.9°)
October 29, 2025 - 22:00 (23.9°)
February 19, 2026 - 17:39 (18.1°)
June 15, 2026 - 20:00 (24.5°)
October 12, 2026 - 10:00 (25.2°)
February 3, 2027 - 06:16 (18.3°)
May 28, 2027 - 09:53 (22.9°)
September 24, 2027 - 22:02 (26.3°)
January 17, 2028 - 17:14 (18.8°)
May 9, 2028 - 06:11 (21.4°)
September 6, 2028 - 10:20 (27.1°)
December 31, 2028 - 00:48 (19.6°)
April 21, 2029 - 13:37 (20.1°)
August 19, 2029 - 21:40 (27.4°)
December 14, 2029 - 03:01 (20.6°)
 January 27, 2010 - 05:22 (24.8°)
May 26, 2010 - 02:15 (25.1°)
September 19, 2010 17:24 (17.9°)
January 9, 2011 - 14:33 (23.3°)
May 7, 2011 - 19:03 (26.6°)
September 3, 2011 - 05:52 (18.1°)
December 23, 2011 - 02:56 (21.8°)
April 18, 2012 - 17:22 (27.5°)
August 16, 2012 - 12:04 (18.7°)
December 4, 2012 - 22:55 (20.6°)
March 31, 2013 - 22:02 (27.8°)
July 30, 2013 - 08:51 (19.6°)
November 18, 2013 - 02:28 (19.5°)
March 14, 2014 - 06:38 (27.6°)
July 12, 2014 - 18:22 (20.9°)
November 1, 2014 - 12:36 (18.7°)
February 24, 2015 - 16:20 (26.7°)
June 24, 2015 - 17:10 (22.5°)
October 16, 2015 - 03:20 (18.1°)
February 7, 2016 - 01:22 (25.6°)
June 5, 2016 - 08:45 (24.2°)
September 28, 2016 - 19:27 (17.9°)
January 19, 2017 - 09:42 (24.1°)
May 17, 2017 - 23:19 (25.8°)
September 12, 2017 - 10:14 (17.9°)
January 1, 2018 - 19:48 (22.7°)
April 29, 2018 - 18:17 (27.0°)
August 26, 2018 - 20:35 (18.3°)
December 15, 2018 - 11:34 (21.3°)
April 11, 2019 - 19:40 (27.7°)
August 9, 2019 - 23:08 (19.0°)
November 28, 2019 - 10:31 (20.1°)
March 24, 2020 - 02:11 (27.8°)
July 22, 2020 - 15:10 (20.1°)
November 10, 2020 - 17:01 (19.1°)
March 6, 2021 - 11:19 (27.3°)
July 4, 2021 - 19:48 (21.6°)
October 25, 2021 - 05:27 (18.4°)
February 16, 2022 - 20:57 (26.3°)
June 16, 2022 - 14:52 (23.2°)
October 8, 2022 - 21:18 (18°)
January 30, 2023 - 06:01 (25°)
May 29, 2023 - 05:39 (24.9°)
September 22, 2023 - 13:18 (17.9°)
January 12, 2024 - 14:32 (23.5°)
May 9, 2024 - 21:24 (26.4°)
September 5, 2024 - 02:33 (18.1°)
December 25, 2024 - 02:28 (22°)
April 21, 2025 - 18:44 (27.4°)
August 19, 2025 - 09:48 (18.6°)
December 7, 2025 - 20:58 (20.7°)
April 3, 2026 - 22:33 (27.8°)
August 2, 2026 - 08:09 (19.5°)
November 20, 2026 - 23:40 (19.6°)
March 17, 2027 - 06:46 (27.6°)
July 15, 2027 - 19:27 (20.7°)
November 4, 2027 - 08:58 (18.8°)
February 27, 2028 - 16:40 (26.9°)
June 26, 2028 - 19:35 (22.2°)
October 17, 2028 - 23:01 (18.2°)
February 9, 2029 - 01:49 (25.7°)
June 8, 2029 - 12:01 (23.9°)
October 1, 2029 - 15:11 (17.9°)
Venus August 20, 2010 - 03:19 (46.0°)
March 27, 2012 - 08:03 (46.0°)
November 1, 2013 - 08:00 (47.1°)
June 6, 2015 - 18:46 (45.4°)
January 12, 2017 - 13:19 (47.1°)
August 17, 2018 - 17:02 (45.9°)
March 24, 2020 - 21:58 (46.1°)
October 29, 2021 - 21:04 (47°)
June 4, 2023 - 11:00 (45.4°)
January 10, 2025 - 04:59 (47.2°)
August 15, 2026 - 06:59 (45.9°)
March 22, 2028 - 11:50 (46.1°)
October 27, 2029 - 10:05 (47°)
 January 8, 2011 - 15:57 (47.0°)
August 15, 2012 - 08:59 (45.8°)
March 22, 2014 - 19:25 (46.6°)
October 26, 2015 - 06:57 (46.4°)
June 3, 2017 - 13:09 (45.9°)
January 6, 2019 - 04:24 (47.0°)
August 12, 2020 - 23:57 (45.8°)
March 20, 2022 - 09:05 (46.6°)
October 23, 2023 - 22:57 (46.4°)
June 1, 2025 - 03:34 (45.9°)
January 3, 2027 - 17:57 (47°)
August 10, 2028 - 16:00 (45.8°)