Those various angles could then be used to calculate the distance between the Earth and the sun - which was still something of a mystery.ĭecades after Halley died, during the 17 transits of Venus, scientists from around the world collaborated and used his method to calculate that the distance between Earth and the sun was about 24,000 times Earth's radius. And this is nothing new: Transits have been teaching us an enormous amount for centuries now.īack in 1677, astronomer Edmond Halley (of Halley's comet fame) watched Mercury cross the sun and noted that if a transit were to be observed from different latitudes on Earth, the different observers would all see Mercury cross the sun along at a slightly different angle. Scientists will be watching the transit closely to glean all sorts of new insights about space. When Mercury crosses the face of the sun, it will be more than just a gawk-worthy spectacle. Time lapse of Mercury's transit across the sun in May 2006. Why the transit of Mercury is so fascinating for scientists Barring some major medical breakthroughs, most of us won't see one again. The last two happened in 20, and the next two won't occur until 21. Transits of Venus tend to come in eight-year pairs that are then each separated by a century or so.
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That means alignment with Earth happens much less frequently - we've only seen eight of them since the telescope was invented in the 1600s. Venus's orbit is inclined 3 degrees from Earth's, but Venus takes 225 days to orbit the sun. This happens once every seven or eight years.īy the way, a transit of Venus is even rarer. If Mercury, which takes 88 days to orbit the sun, is also wandering through at the same time, a transit occurs. So there are only two spots where the two planets could conceivably line up with the sun - the places where Mercury crosses the Earth's orbital plane: (European Southern Observatory)Įarth lines up with these intersection spots around May 8 and November 10 each year, give or take a few days.
But Mercury's orbit is inclined by about 7 degrees compared with Earth's. Why so uncommon? For a transit to occur, the sun, Mercury, and Earth all have to line up directly. After that, we won't see another until 2032. The last one took place in 2006, and the next one won't occur until November 11, 2019. On average, transits of Mercury occur about 13 or 14 times every 100 years. Mercury leaves the sun's disk in about 20 mins during today's #MercuryTransit. Here's a fun timelapse of Mercury's journey from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, posted at around 2:30 pm EST: Again, if you don't have a telescope with a solar filter, there are plenty of internet live streams from Slooh and the European Space Agency and NASA's various satellites. You can visit the Night Sky Network to find public viewing events. Those living on the West Coast of the United States should be able to witness the transit already in progress once the sun rises: ( Europlanet) In London, for instance, the transit starts at 12:12 pm. Here's a map of where on Earth the transit should be visible, either entirely or in part. You'll risk severe eye damage.Īlternatively, there are quite a few live streams of the transit, like the neat one below from Slooh, a group that collects views from different telescopes worldwide: If you don't have a filter, don't try to look directly at the sun, not even through your phone camera. Just m ake sure you use a solar filter before watching the transit.
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Most people in Europe and North America should be able to view the event directly through a telescope or binoculars, weather permitting. The graphic from NASA above shows its expected path. Mercury begins its transit at 7:12 am EST and will take about 7.5 hours to fully cross the sun's face, finishing at 2:42 pm.
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Stargazers, take note! On Monday, May 9, the planet Mercury will wander directly in front of the sun - a rare "transit" that only happens about 13 times a century.