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Our cosmic neighbor Mercury is the runt of thesolar organisation ; it ’s not much bigger than Earth ’s moon and is so hard to spot that it ’s recognise as " the elusive satellite . " But we ’re about to get a rarefied and spectacular view of the flyspeck world as it sails across the Sunday in an event known as a passage .
On Monday ( Nov. 11 ) , Mercury will buy the farm between Earth and the Lord’s Day . Because the satellite is so tiny and so tight to the Sunday , it does n’t block the sun ’s sparkle , as the moonlight does during an eclipse . Rather , Mercury will be visible from Earth as a wee dot silhouette against a huge , glowing , solar backdrop , according to NASA .
Mercury’s transit across the sun in 2016 took 7 and a half hours. This composite image of the journey was created with visible-light images from instruments on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Here on Earth , we ’ll be able to watch that shameful soupcon move slowly across the sun , a batch that appears only 13 times in a century . And if you miss this year ’s Mercury transit , you ’ll have to wait until 2032 to trance one .
Related : Gorgeous New Mercury Maps Showcase Planet ’s Striking feature
The show begins at 7:36 a.m. EST on the easterly coast of the U.S. and will already be underway when the Dominicus rises west of the Rocky Mountains . Mercury will locomote midway across the sun by around 11:20 a.m. EST . From get-go to polish , the passage will last about 5.5 hours , finish at 1:04 p.m. ESTaccording to NASA .
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If skies are clear , the transit will be visible from most of North America ; part of Europe , Asia and Antarctica ; and all of South America and Africa , Live Science sister siteSpace.com reported .
Spotting the tiny , swiftly moving planet requires a telescope or field glasses . However , any look at gadget that sharpen directly at the sun must be fitted with protective solar filters to preventserious eye terms . Disposable eclipse glasses should never be used with binoculars and telescopes ; magnifying lenses increase sunlight ’s destructive power and can melt occultation glasses ' flimsy filter , as demonstrated in a videoshared to YouTubein 2017 by diary keeper and lensman Vince Patton .
The last Mercury passage took situation in 2016 , andNASA ’s Solar Dynamics Observatory ( SDO ) capturedunprecedented image of the effect , at a eminent result than ever before . But the transportation system is n’t just an awe - breathe in spectacle ; it has scientific grandness , too . When Mercury is position directly in front of the sun for hours at a stretch , investigator are able to study the planet ’s exosphere , a very sparse atmosphere of gases , to determine their dispersion and tightness , NASA scientist Rosemary Killensaid in a statement .
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" Sodium in the exosphere absorbs and reemits a yellow - orange semblance from sunlight , and by measuring that absorption , we can learn about the tightness of flatulency there , " Killen enjoin .
To find out more about Monday ’s Mercury transit and where you could watch it , including live webcast views on the day of the transportation system , visitSpace.com .
in the first place published onLive skill .
