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Transit of Mercury - 2016-05-09
This coming Monday, 9th of May, the planet Mercury will transit our Sun [ras.org.uk]. Transition should start at approximately 11:12 UTC, and end at 18:42 UTC. The last such transit occurred in 2006, and transition shall occur, again, in 2019 and 2032; it is an infrequent event and very much worth watching.
The entire event is visible from most of Western Europe, the western part of North and West Africa, the eastern part of North America and most of South America. Most of the transit (either ending with sunset or starting at sunrise) will be visible from the rest of North and South America, the eastern half of the Pacific, the rest of Africa and most of Asia. Observers in eastern Asia, south-eastern Asia and Australasia will not be able to see the transit.
Transits are unlike solar eclipses in that Mercury is much further away from the Earth than our moon, and so will appear as a small dot on the solar disc itself. There will be no perceivable decrease in the Sun's brightness during the event. Warning: If you plan to observer the transit, one should never observe the Sun directly without the proper safety precautions, such as using white light power filters, or a combination of power and narrowband filters. Another option is to project the solar disc onto a flat, non-flammable surface with an optical instrument.
