Rare Mercury Dash on Monday
There's a celestial event, that will happen in broad daylight for much of the world to see.The next time you have an opportunity to witness this event will be Monday morning.
The next time after that, won't be before the year 2032.
Our smallest (official) planet, Mercury will traverse across the sun diagonally.
Due to the intense light of the sun, it will appear as a small black dot.
It will take place Monday starting from 7:35 am est. However, it will continue for 5 hours.
You probably will need binoculars, or a telescope, unless you have really good vision.
Either way, it would be advisable to also use those eclipse glasses too. Staring at the sun
is not good for your vision. Enjoy !
From ABC News;
In response to:
Mercury putting on rare show Monday, parading across the sun
By
MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
November 8, 2019, 12:06 PM
Mercury is putting on a rare celestial show next week, parading across the sun in view of most of the world.
The solar system's smallest, innermost planet will resemble a tiny black dot Monday as it passes directly between Earth and the sun. It begins at 7:35 a.m. EST.
The entire 5 ½-hour event will be visible, weather permitting, in the eastern U.S. and Canada, and all Central and South America. The rest of North America, Europe and Africa will catch part of the action. Asia and Australia will miss out.
Unlike its 2016 transit, Mercury will score a near bull's-eye this time, passing practically dead center in front of our star.
Mercury's next transit isn't until 2032, and North America won't get another viewing opportunity until 2049. Earthlings get treated to just 13 or 14 Mercury transits a century.
You'll need proper eye protection for Monday's spectacle: Telescopes or binoculars with solar filters are recommended. There's no harm in pulling out the eclipse glasses from the total solar eclipse across the U.S. two years ago, but it would take "exceptional vision" to spot minuscule Mercury, said NASA solar astrophysicist Alex Young.
Mercury is 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) in diameter, compared with the sun's 864,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers.)
During its 2012 transit of the sun, larger and closer Venus was barely detectable by Young with his solar-viewing glasses.
"That's really close to the limit of what you can see," he said earlier this week. "So Mercury's going to probably be too small."
Venus transits are much rarer. The next one isn't until 2117.
Mercury will cut a diagonal path left to right across the sun on Monday, entering around the 8 o'clock mark and exiting around the 2 o'clock point.
Although the trek will appear slow, Mercury will zoom across the sun at roughly 150,000 mph (241,000 kph).
Mercury putting on rare show Monday, parading across the sun
By
MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
November 8, 2019, 12:06 PM
Mercury is putting on a rare celestial show next week, parading across the sun in view of most of the world.
The solar system's smallest, innermost planet will resemble a tiny black dot Monday as it passes directly between Earth and the sun. It begins at 7:35 a.m. EST.
The entire 5 ½-hour event will be visible, weather permitting, in the eastern U.S. and Canada, and all Central and South America. The rest of North America, Europe and Africa will catch part of the action. Asia and Australia will miss out.
Unlike its 2016 transit, Mercury will score a near bull's-eye this time, passing practically dead center in front of our star.
Mercury's next transit isn't until 2032, and North America won't get another viewing opportunity until 2049. Earthlings get treated to just 13 or 14 Mercury transits a century.
You'll need proper eye protection for Monday's spectacle: Telescopes or binoculars with solar filters are recommended. There's no harm in pulling out the eclipse glasses from the total solar eclipse across the U.S. two years ago, but it would take "exceptional vision" to spot minuscule Mercury, said NASA solar astrophysicist Alex Young.
Mercury is 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) in diameter, compared with the sun's 864,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers.)
During its 2012 transit of the sun, larger and closer Venus was barely detectable by Young with his solar-viewing glasses.
"That's really close to the limit of what you can see," he said earlier this week. "So Mercury's going to probably be too small."
Venus transits are much rarer. The next one isn't until 2117.
Mercury will cut a diagonal path left to right across the sun on Monday, entering around the 8 o'clock mark and exiting around the 2 o'clock point.
Although the trek will appear slow, Mercury will zoom across the sun at roughly 150,000 mph (241,000 kph).
Comments (11)
Right you are, Oob
Do NOT look at the sun through binoculars
Here's how to use binoculars to observe Mercury's dash -
C - I believe NASA will live stream it. No need for special glasses to view that.
I'll look for an actual link for you.
They will also post images of it.
You can also watch a live stream on NASA's Facebook page, whichever you prefer.
BTW an Arc Welding filter will allow you to look directly at the Sun with no worries. I'm not sure if gas welding goggles are dark enough, I'll have to check that out when the Sun is out.
It's strange but as a kid I've looked at the Sun several times with no ill effect to my eyesight. I've always had 20/20 vision. Now I have 20/0