Mercury's Rare Transit Between the Earth and the Sun on Monday morning 11/11

From NASA's website-The sky will put on a show Nov. 11 when Mercury journeys across the Sun. The event, known as a transit, occurs when Mercury passes directly between Earth and the Sun.  From our perspective on Earth, Mercury will look like a tiny black dot gliding across the Sun’s face. This only happens about 13 times a century, so it’s a rare event that skywatchers won’t want to miss. Mercury’s last transit was in 2016.  The next won’t happen again until 2032!

First things first, NASA is reminding the public that it is very dangerous to look directly at the Sun — doing so puts the person at risk of permanent vision damage. It’s important to use a Sun filter from a reputable vendor; you’ll also need a telescope that is capable of at least a 50x zoom.

The transit will begin at  7:35 AM EST, though some people will be forced to wait for the Sun to rise in their time zone before they can see it; in these cases, the transit won’t be visible until after it has already started. Mercury will be at its closest point to the Sun at approximately  10:20 AM EST, according to NASA.

From NASA website “Viewing transits and eclipses provide opportunities to engage the public, to encourage one and all to experience the wonders of the universe and to appreciate how precisely science and mathematics can predict celestial events,” said Mitzi Adams, a solar scientist in the Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “Of course, safely viewing the Sun is one of my favorite things to do.”

If you don’t have the right equipment to view the transit for yourself, NASA has you covered. In addition to the video above, which provides a high-quality rendered look at what the transit will appear like, the space agency also plans to share images of the actual transit on its website here.

Nancy Nutile-McMenemy is an Upper Valley freelance photographer and writer who loves to attend concerts and local events in and around Weathersfield and the Upper Valley.  If you have an event you'd like listed please email it to: photosbynanci@comcast.com