Mercury reaches its peak in night sky. During these next two weeks we will be presented with an excellent opportunity to view Mercury in the early morning dawn sky. If you’ve been an early riser this past week, it’s quite possible you might have stumbled across Mercury on your own. Since Nov. 20, it has been rising at least 90 minutes before sunrise, which is also just about the same time that morning twilight is beginning. If you scan low along the east-southeast horizon about 45 minutes before sunrise, Mercury has been visible as a distinctly bright, yellowish-orange "star."