Mercury , the smallest planet in the Solar System , is just about to get between us and the Sun . Today , for a few hour , Mercury will trek across the solar magnetic disc , a phenomenon have sex as transit . It will be visible in Europe , Africa , and the Americas start at 7:35 am Eastern Time ( 12:35 pm GMT ) and finishing at 13:04 EST ( 18:04 GMT ) . So here ’s how to keep an eye on it safely and , in case the weather condition is terrible where you are , where to check it online .
First of all , under no context endeavor and look up at the skyto get a glance of the transit . The only thing you ’ll be catch is solar retinopathy , as the sunlight leave a chemical sunburn on your retina . You will need binoculars or a telescope with the appropriate filter . Mercury cover about 0.004 percent of the Sun ’s disk , so you need blowup to in reality see it .
If you do n’t have a scope with a filter W. C. Handy do not despair . Many libraries(across the US at least ) have telescopes to borrow available and several establishment , universities , and observatories are run free events for members of the populace to fall in in . A full listing of timings for cities across the US and Canada is available atEclipse Wise .
There are also plenty of livestreams with expert comment happen online from theRoyal Observatory Greenwichin London , UK to theGriffith Observatoryin Los Angeles , California . you could also follow it on theIFLScience Facebook Pageas we rain buckets theSloohbroadcast .
Transits of Mercury encounter 13 or 14 time every century either in November or in May . This is due to the angle of inclination of the orbit of Mercury with regard to Earth , so those months are the only times the planet is aligned with the Sun from our decimal point of view . Mercury ’s orbit shifts around the Sun due to our star ’s graveness , so the theodolite are step by step moving to later in the year . Before 1585 , they occurred in April and October .
test and catch the result today because there ’s quite a gap until the next one . We wo n’t be seeing another transit of Mercury until November 13 , 2032 .
