It will take 7.5 hours for Mercury to pass in front of the Sun, so you can check in on the small planet’s trek throughout the course of Monday.
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Mercury typically completes each orbit around the sun every 88 days, and passes between the Earth and sun every 116 days.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) Earthlings are in for a treat Monday as Mercury makes a relatively rare transit of the sun.
Both Venus and Mercury are the only planets between us and the sun, meaning they’re the only two we have the chance of seeing a transit.
Next Monday, May 9, most people on Earth will be able to look up and watch Mercury pass in front of the sun, something that hasn’t been seen in nearly 10 years.
IU’s Department of Astronomy will show a live stream from Kirkwood Observatory of the transit of Mercury on May 9, according to an IU press release.
The next Mercury transit won’t be visible again until 2019. NASA will publish images of the event on its website at NASA.gov, and will also broadcast footage of the transit during a one-hour NASA Television special.
November 11, 2019 marks the date of the next transit, which also favors observers in the Americas and Europe.
The transit will start at 5:56 a.m. and end at 11:42 a.m. Astronomers call this a “transit, and it’s like a mini solar eclipse, except Mercury is so far away that its disc will appear tiny silhouetted against the Sun, barely more than a small black dot in fact”.
NASA also advises that those keen to watch the event should contact local astronomy groups.
The passage of Mercury against the dazzling sun is a relatively rare occurrence – this is the first since 2006.
How to see it: You’ll need a telescope or binoculars fitted with a solar filter (since you’ll be staring straight at the sun). The rare Mercury transit will be visible from almost all parts of the Earth including – Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica.
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The next transit of Mercury visible from India would come on November 13, 2032. We’ll be able to watch as it crosses in front of the sun on May 9th. But DO NOT attempt to look at the sun without proper eye protection.
