Transit of Mercury today: How to watch incredibly rare celestial sight as planet crosses in front of the Sun
Planets won't line up in formation again until 2032
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A rare Transit of Mercury is about to take place, marking the last chance to see it for more than a decade.
The phenomenon happens when the planet travels right between the Earth and the Sun, allowing it to be seen as a tiny dot on our star.
It is the last chance to see the rare celestial sight until 2032, because the planets so rarely line up in such a formation.
The Transit of Mercury will begin at 12.35 GMT, and last for almost six hours. All of it will be visible from the Americas, most of the Caribbean and some of west Africa. Some places such as Europe, the Middle East and most of Africa will miss out on the end because the sun will set before it is over, and people in much of Asia and Australia will miss out entirely.
There are only 13 or 14 of the transits each century. Though Mercury goes around the Sun every 88 days, and moves between the Earth and the Sun every 116 days, it usually above or below the star and so we cannot see it.
As well as being rare events, they are unusual in that they can be seen right across much of the Earth when they do happen. Humanity has been watching fo rthem since 1631, when the first was spotted by French astronomer Pierre Gassendi just a couple of decades after the first telescope was invented.
Mercury only blocks out a tiny bit of the Sun, meaning that it is very dangerous indeed to look straight at it. The event should never be looked at with the naked eye or without the requisite protection, such as eclipse glasses.
Unfortunately, some of the techniques used to see other similar events such as the solar eclipse will not work: Mercury is too small to see it pass using a pinhole projector, for instance. The Society for Popular Astronomy has a full guide to seeing it safely.
But it will nonetheless probably be best viewed by using someone else's images. Online observatory Slooh will be hosting a live stream, and Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory will be gathering images throughout and uploading them live as they arrive.
As well as being a stunning sight, the transit is a very local example of a phenomenon we use to spot planets right across the galaxy. Astronomers watch other distant stars for signs of similar transits, which they can use to spot planets and learn about their characteristics.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments