The innermost planet has a reputation for being elusive, but the secret to catching a glimpse of it is mainly timing. For this particular apparition, observers in the UK need to be scanning the east-northeast around the onset of civil twilight when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon.
For the heart of the British Isles, civil dawn is currently about 42 minutes before sunrise. You can find out when civil dawn occurs for where you live by selecting your nearest city in our interactive online Almanac. Click here for an Almanac user’s guide.
If you try observing earlier than civil dawn then Mercury will be too low to see but the sky will be darker, while leaving it too late means that the little planet will be higher but the sky is too bright. (Never be tempted to sweep with binoculars or a small telescope with an imminent sunrise, risking irreparable damage to your eyesight.)
Mercury passes from the constellation of Gemini into Cancer on the morning of Friday, 9 August. The planet crosses a line drawn from Castor through Pollux (the two most prominent stars in Gemini), about a span of a fist at arm’s length below Pollux on the mornings of the 11th and 12th. Note that Mercury is highest in the UK sky around civil dawn on 14 August. The planet is also brighter towards the end of the period, exceeding magnitude -1.0 on the 19th.