Mercury put in a fine morning apparition for northern hemisphere observers in October, 2015.  As can be seen on this chart, he began his morning show by rising up quickly from a position south of the ecliptic, large in diameter, small in phase, and relatively dim, and then as he swung around the far side of the Sun, decreasing in diameter, becoming more gibbous, gaining in magnitude, and slowing his pace each day.  On this morning, he shines at magnitude -0.43, brighter than all stars except Sirius and Canopus.  Unannotated image