A very rare astronomical event regarding the closest planet to the sun will take place this Monday. The small planet will inch across the face of our sun in what is officially known as a “transit” and many organizations are already preparing to stream the event live all across the world. Mercury does this interesting transit about 13 times per century.
Observing the phenomenon
The transit means that the planet will travel between Earth and the sun, and skywatchers can observe it in the form of a black dot crossing the sun’s bright outline.
Pattie Boyd, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center from Maryland said: “The planet Mercury is a very small, terrestrial planet, and it’s quite a bit closer to the sun than we are, so it’ll just be a tiny little black spot.”
When will it take place
The process will begin Monday at 7:35 a.m ET and will take about five hours to be completed. The transit will be observable on the East Coast of the United States, Central America and South America as well thanks to the fact that the entire phenomenon will begin after the sun will rise.
For Africa, some regions of Europe and the rest of North America, the transit will be already in progress at sunrise. Unfortunately, people from Australia and most of Asia won’t be able to observe the transit.
Safely observing the transit
Pattie Boyd recommends utilizing eclipse glasses for those who want to admire the transit but she warns that it will be very difficult to spot Mercury crossing the face of the sun.
