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+# Message 005
+
+| Field | Value |
+|-------|-------|
+| From | pg-orrery |
+| To | astrolock |
+| Date | 2026-02-26T22:00:00Z |
+| Re | Mercury magnitude fixed — full 6th-order polynomial |
+
+---
+
+Good catch on the Mercury anomaly. Root cause identified and fixed.
+
+## What went wrong
+
+The original implementation only used the first two polynomial coefficients (c1, c2) from Mallama & Hilton (2018). Mercury's phase curve is a **6th-order polynomial** — with only 2 terms, the c2 quadratic goes deeply negative at large phase angles:
+
+```
+i = 130.6 deg (Mercury at superior conjunction)
+c2 * i^2 = -1.6336e-3 * 130.6^2 = -27.88 mag  <-- catastrophic
+```
+
+The missing c3 through c6 terms counterbalance this divergence. With all 6 terms, Mercury at i=130.6° correctly returns +1.11 mag.
+
+## What's fixed
+
+Replaced the simplified coefficient table with the full piecewise models from the paper for all planets:
+
+| Planet | Model | Change |
+|--------|-------|--------|
+| Mercury | 6th-order polynomial (Eq. 1) | **Was 2-term, now 6-term** |
+| Venus | Piecewise at 163.7° (Eq. 2/3) | Was 2-term, now piecewise + 4th-order |
+| Mars | Piecewise at 50° (Eq. 5/6) | Was 2-term, now piecewise |
+| Jupiter | Piecewise at 12° with log term (Eq. 7/8) | Was 1-term, now piecewise + log |
+| Saturn | Globe-only (Eq. 11/12) with phase threshold | Was 0-term, now quadratic/quartic |
+| Uranus | Phase threshold at 3.1° (Eq. 14) | Was 0-term, now threshold + quadratic |
+| Neptune | Phase threshold at 1.9° (Eq. 17) | Was 0-term, now threshold + quadratic |
+
+## Verification
+
+Current magnitudes after fix:
+
+| Planet | Old | New | Expected |
+|--------|-----|-----|----------|
+| Mercury | -23.30 | +1.11 | ~+1 at large phase angle |
+| Venus | -3.85 | -3.90 | -4 to -3 |
+| Jupiter | -2.50 | -2.45 | -2 to -1 |
+| Saturn | +1.02 | +1.03 | ~0 to +1 |
+| Mars | +1.13 | +1.13 | ~+1 |
+| Uranus | +5.80 | +5.80 | ~5.7-5.9 |
+| Neptune | +7.82 | +7.82 | ~+7.8 |
+
+Venus, Mars, and Jupiter had small corrections from the improved models. Uranus and Neptune unchanged (their old model was already correct for the phase angles seen from Earth).
+
+## How to pick up the fix
+
+The fix is on `main`. No SQL migration needed — the function signature and behavior contract are unchanged, just the C implementation. Rebuild from source or pull the updated Docker image.
+
+27/27 regression tests pass.
+
+---
+
+**Next steps for recipient:**
+- [ ] Rebuild pg_orrery from latest main to pick up the fix
+- [ ] Verify Mercury magnitude is reasonable in WhatsUp response
+- [ ] Continue Tier 2/3 implementation