– Weird planet –
The closest planet to the Sun and a third the size of Earth, Mercury is one of the Solar System’s curiosities.
It is one of the four rocky planets of the inner Solar System but has no atmosphere and its metallic body is scarred by collisions from space rocks.
Daytime on Mercury is six times hotter than the hottest place on Earth, and nighttime can be more than twice as cold as the coldest place on our planet.
It rotates so slowly – three times for every two orbits – that, bizarrely, Mercury’s day is twice as long as its year.
The transit of Mercury was first recorded by French astronomer Pierre Gassendi. He observed it through a telescope in 1631, two decades after the instrument was invented.
German astronomer Johannes Kepler had correctly predicted that transit, but died in 1630 before he could witness the event.
The last Mercury lineup was 10 years ago, and the next will be in 2019, followed by 2032 and 2049.
“It is always exciting to see rare astronomical phenomena such as this transit of Mercury,” said RAS President Martin Barstow. “They show that astronomy is a science that is accessible to everyone.”
But be warned: looking directly at the phenomenon can result in permanent eye damage, as only a very small part of the Sun will be blocked out.
One option is to use a telescope or binoculars to project the image onto a white surface. Stargazers can also observe the event through a telescope with a strong filter or – most safely of all – on the Internet.
NOTE:
– An animation of the transit, and details on cities that see at least part of the event, can be found on http://u.afp.com/Zu92 and http://u.afp.com/Zu9a
– Several websites are providing live coverage, including http://u.afp.com/Zu96 and http://u.afp.com/Zu9R
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