Transit of Mercury: Difference between revisions

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Transit of Mercury (time lapse showing entire event)

A transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury comes between the Sun and the Earth, and Mercury is seen as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun.

Transits of Mercury with respect to Earth are much more frequent than transits of Venus, with about 13 or 14 per century, in part because Mercury is closer to the Sun and orbits it faster.

Transits of Mercury can happen in May or November. November transits occur at intervals of 7, 13, or 33 years; May transits only occur at intervals of 13 or 33 years. The last two transits were in 1999 and 2003; the next two will occur in 2006 and 2016.

During a May transit, Mercury is near aphelion and has an angular diameter of 12"; during a November transit, it is near perihelion and has an angular diameter of 10".

Past and future transits

The first observation of a transit of Mercury was on November 7 1631 by Pierre Gassendi. He unsuccessfully attempted to observe the transit of Venus just one month later, but due to inaccurate astronomical tables he did not realize that it was not visible from most of Europe, including Paris. A transit of Venus was not observed until 1639, by Jeremiah Horrocks.

Mercury typically transits the sun in November or May.

Transits of Mercury
Date of mid-transit	Time (UTC)			Notes
Date of mid-transit	Start	Mid	End	Notes
1631 Nov 7
1651 Nov 3				Observed by Jeremy Shakerly in the East Indies, he died on the expedition and his work was lost.
1661 May 3				Occurred on the day of the Coronation of King Charles II of England. Observed by Christiaan Huygens in London.
1677 Nov 7
1743 Nov 05				Coordinated scientific observations were organized by Joseph-Nicolas Delisle worldwide.
1753 May 6
1769 Nov 09				Noted that Mercury had little or no atmosphere.
1907 Nov 14	10:24	12:07	13:50
1914 Nov 07	09:57	12:03	14:09
1924 May 08	21:44	01:41	05:38
1927 Nov 10	03:02	05:46	08:29
1937 May 11	08:53	08:59	09:06	Only visible as partial transit in Southern Africa, Southern Arabia, South Asia and Western Australia.
1940 Nov 11	20:49	23:21	01:53
1953 Nov 14	15:37	16:54	18:11
1957 May 06	23:59	01:14	02:30
1960 Nov 07	14:34	16:53	19:12	[1]
1970 May 09	04:19	08:16	12:13	[2]
1973 Nov 10	07:47	10:32	13:17	[3]
1986 Nov 13	01:43	04:07	06:31	[4]
1993 Nov 06	03:06	03:57	04:47	[5]
1999 Nov 15	21:15	21:41	22:07	[6] Partial transit in Australia, Antarctica and Southern Island of New Zealand
2003 May 07	05:13	07:52	10:32	[7]
2006 Nov 08	19:12	21:41	00:10	[8]
2016 May 09	11:12	14:57	18:42
2019 Nov 11	12:35	15:20	18:04
2032 Nov 13	06:41	08:54	11:07
2039 Nov 07	07:17	08:46	10:15
2049 May 07	11:03	14:24	17:44
2052 Nov 09	23:53	02:29	05:06
2062 May 10	18:16	21:36	00:57
2065 Nov 11	17:24	20:06	22:48
2078 Nov 14	11:42	13:41	15:39
2085 Nov 07	11:42	13:34	15:26
2095 May 08	17:20	21:05	00:50
2098 Nov 10	04:35	07:16	09:57

Grazing transits of Mercury

Sometimes Mercury only grazes the Sun during a transit. In this case it is possible that in some areas of the Earth a full transit can be seen while in other regions there is only a partial transit (no second or third contact). The transit of November 15 1999 was such a transit, and the previous one before that was on October 28 743. The next such transit will occur on May 11 2391.

It is also possible that a transit of Mercury can be seen in some parts of the world as a partial transit, while in others Mercury misses the Sun. Such a transit last occurred on May 11 1937, and the previous one was on October 21 1342. The next such transit will occur on May 13 2608.

Simultaneous transits

The simultaneous occurrence of a transit of Mercury and a transit of Venus is extremely rare, and will next occur only in the years 69163 and 224508.

The simultaneous occurrence of a solar eclipse and a transit of Mercury is very rare. The next solar eclipse occurring during a transit of Mercury will be on July 5 6757, and will be visible in Eastern Siberia.

References

Cunningham, Clifford J., "Mercury's Time to Shine," Mercury Sep-Oct 2006.

External links

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:Merc_transit.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Transit of Mercury (time lapse showing entire event)]]
 [[Image:Transit of Mercury - 11-8-06 with Title.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Transit of Mercury 11-8-06 - Photographed by Eric S. Kounce of the West Texas Astronomers (www.wtastro.org) from Washington Elementary, Midland, Texas.]]
+[[Image:Transit of Mercury Closeup - Nov 8, 2006.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Transit of Mercury on November 8, 2006 - Photographed by Eric S. Kounce of the West Texas Astronomers (www.wtastro.org) in Midland, Texas.]]
 A '''[[astronomical transit|transit]] of [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] across the [[Sun]]''' takes place when the [[planet]] Mercury comes between the Sun and the [[Earth]], and Mercury is seen as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun.