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, farther from the sun, 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 2020 through 2039. 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  
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°)
April 4, 2030 - 08:21 (19.1°)
August 2, 2030 - 05:24 (27.3°)
November 26, 2030 - 23:24 (21.8°)
March 18, 2031 - 12:08 (18.5°)
July 15, 2031 - 07:26 (26.6°)
November 9, 2031 - 15:04 (23.1°)
February 29, 2032 - 21:46 (18.2°)
June 26, 2032 - 01:59 (25.4°)
October 22, 2032 - 04:03 (24.4°)
February 12, 2033 - 10:07 (18.2°)
June 7, 2033 - 16:20 (23.8°)
October 4, 2033 - 16:00 (25.7°)
January 26, 2034 - 22:24 (18.5°)
May 20, 2034 - 08:12 (22.2°)
September 17, 2034 - 04:08 (26.6°)
January 10, 2035 - 08:06 (19.1°)
May 2, 2035 - 08:48 (20.8°)
August 30, 2035 - 16:24 (27.3°)
December 24, 2035 - 13:19 (20°)
April 13, 2036 - 20:59 (19.6°)
August 12, 2036 - 02:19 (27.4°)
December 6, 2036 - 13:11 (21.1°)
March 27, 2037 - 20:04 (18.8°)
July 25, 2037 - 07:59 (27°)
November 19, 2037 - 07:31 (22.4°)
March 11, 2038 - 02:45 (18.3°)
July 7, 2038 - 07:10 (26.1°)
November 1, 2038 - 22:01 (23.7°)
February 22, 2039 - 14:01 (18.1°)
June 18, 2039 - 23:03 (24.7°)
October 15, 2039 - 10:01 (25°)
January 27, 2010 - 05:22 (24.8°)
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°)
January 22, 2030 - 10:18 (24.4°)
May 21, 2030 - 02:15 (25.6°)
September 15, 2030 - 06:29 (17.9°)
January 4, 2031 - 19:49 (22.9°)
May 2, 2031 - 20:21 (26.9°)
August 29, 2031 - 17:37 (18.2°)
December 18, 2031 - 10:26 (21.5°)
April 13, 2032 - 20:45 (27.6°)
August 11, 2032 - 21:25 (18.9°)
November 30, 2032 - 08:18 (20.2°)
March 27, 2033 - 02:19 (27.8°)
July 25, 2033 - 15:09 (19.9°)
November 13, 2033 - 13:41 (19.2°)
March 9, 2034 - 11:40 (27.4°)
July 7, 2034 - 21:25 (21.3°)
October 28, 2034 - 01:36 (18.5°)
February 19, 2035 - 21:21 (26.4°)
June 19, 2035 - 17:46 (22.9°)
October 11, 2035 - 16:56 (18°)
February 2, 2036 - 06:19 (25.2°)
May 31, 2036 - 08:45 (24.6°)
September 24, 2036 - 09:09 (17.9°)
January 14, 2037 - 14:51 (23.7°)
May 12, 2037 - 23:51 (26.2°)
September 7, 2037 - 22:56 (18°)
December 28, 2037 - 02:00 (22.3°)
April 24, 2038 - 20:35 (27.3°)
August 22, 2038 - 07:20 (18.5°)
December 10, 2038 - 19:36 (20.9°)
April 6, 2039 - 23:25 (27.8°)
August 5, 2039 - 07:11 (19.3°)
November 23, 2039 - 20:58 (19.8°)
Venus 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°)
June 2, 2031 - 03:24 (45.4°)
January 7, 2033 - 20:00 (47.2°)
August 12, 2034 - 18:33 (45.9°)
March 20, 2036 - 03:25 (46.2°)
October 25, 2037 - 01:08 (47°)
May 30, 2039 - 20:10 (45.4°)
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°)
March 18, 2030 - 00:00 (46.6°)
October 21, 2031 - 13:58 (46.4°)
May 29, 2033 - 17:51 (45.9°)
January 1, 2035 - 07:03 (46.9°)
August 8, 2036 - 07:55 (45.8°)
March 15, 2038 - 14:03 (46.6°)