Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

4 hours ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

6 hours ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

7 hours ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

7 hours ago

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

9 hours ago

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

11 hours ago

FBI Agents Search Ex-Trump Adviser Bolton’s Home, Source Says

11 hours ago

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

11 hours ago

Gavin Newsom’s Redistricting Plan Is on Its Way to Voters. What You Need to Know

1 day ago
Mercury Putting on Rare Show Monday, Parading Across the Sun
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
November 10, 2019

Share

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Mercury is putting on a rare celestial show next week, parading across the sun in view of most of the world.
The solar system’s smallest, innermost planet will resemble a tiny black dot Monday as it passes directly between Earth and the sun. It begins at 7:35 a.m. EST.
The entire 5 ½-hour event will be visible, weather permitting, in the eastern U.S. and Canada, and all Central and South America. The rest of North America, Europe and Africa will catch part of the action. Asia and Australia will miss out.
Unlike its 2016 transit, Mercury will score a near bull’s-eye this time, passing practically dead center in front of our star.
Mercury’s next transit isn’t until 2032, and North America won’t get another viewing opportunity until 2049. Earthlings get treated to just 13 or 14 Mercury transits a century.
You’ll need proper eye protection for Monday’s spectacle: Telescopes or binoculars with solar filters are recommended. There’s no harm in pulling out the eclipse glasses from the total solar eclipse across the U.S. two years ago, but it would take “exceptional vision” to spot minuscule Mercury, said NASA solar astrophysicist Alex Young.
Mercury is 3,000 miles in diameter, compared with the sun’s 864,000 miles.

Venus Transits Are Much Rarer

During its 2012 transit of the sun, larger and closer Venus was barely detectable by Young with his solar-viewing glasses.

“That’s really close to the limit of what you can see. So Mercury’s going to probably be too small.” — NASA solar astrophysicist Alex Young
“That’s really close to the limit of what you can see,” he said earlier this week. “So Mercury’s going to probably be too small.”
Venus transits are much rarer. The next one isn’t until 2117.
Mercury will cut a diagonal path left to right across the sun on Monday, entering at bottom left (around the 8 hour mark on a clock) and exiting top right (around the 2 hour mark).
Although the trek will appear slow, Mercury will zoom across the sun at roughly 150,000 mph.
NASA will broadcast the transit as seen from the orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory, with only a brief lag. Scientists will use the transit to fine-tune telescopes, especially those in space that cannot be adjusted by hand, according to Young.
It’s this kind of transit that allows scientists to discover alien worlds. Periodic, fleeting dips of starlight indicate an orbiting planet.
“Transits are a visible demonstration of how the planets move around the sun, and everyone with access to the right equipment should take a look,” Mike Cruise, president of the Royal Astronomical Society, said in a statement from England.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

DON'T MISS

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

DON'T MISS

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

DON'T MISS

Multiple Passengers Are Killed After Bus Crashes in Western New York

DON'T MISS

Fresno Firefighters Contain Cambridge Avenue Blaze, No Injuries Reported

DON'T MISS

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

DON'T MISS

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

DON'T MISS

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego to Be Released Soon, Lawyer Says

DON'T MISS

Remembering Ron McCary, Who Did It All for KMJ

UP NEXT

Texas Senate Debates Redistricting Bill, Is Expected to Pass It Easily

UP NEXT

Trump: DC Mayor Bowser Must Get Act Together or Won’t Be Mayor Anymore

UP NEXT

Wall Street Soars as Powell Hints at Rate Cut in September

UP NEXT

Trump’s Tariffs Could Reduce US Deficit by $4 Trillion, CBO Estimates

UP NEXT

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

UP NEXT

Canada to Remove Many Retaliatory Tariffs on US Goods, Says Source

UP NEXT

After Joining TikTok, Trump Says He Could Extend Sale Deadline if Needed

UP NEXT

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

UP NEXT

FBI Agents Search Ex-Trump Adviser Bolton’s Home, Source Says

UP NEXT

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

Multiple Passengers Are Killed After Bus Crashes in Western New York

5 hours ago

Fresno Firefighters Contain Cambridge Avenue Blaze, No Injuries Reported

5 hours ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

6 hours ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

7 hours ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

7 hours ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego to Be Released Soon, Lawyer Says

7 hours ago

Remembering Ron McCary, Who Did It All for KMJ

7 hours ago

I Was Preyed On for My VA Benefits. California Can Stop It

8 hours ago

Texas Senate Debates Redistricting Bill, Is Expected to Pass It Easily

8 hours ago

Trump: DC Mayor Bowser Must Get Act Together or Won’t Be Mayor Anymore

8 hours ago

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

A driver ran a red light Friday at the intersection of Herndon and West avenues, clipping another vehicle before crashing into a nearby buil...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

4 hours ago

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

The crest of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File photo
5 hours ago

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

First responders work at the scene of a bus crash on the New York State Thruway about 30 miles east of Buffalo, N.Y., on Friday afternoon, Aug. 22, 2025. The tour bus traveling from Niagara Falls to New York City crashed on a highway outside Buffalo on Friday, killing multiple passengers, including at least one child, and leaving some people trapped beneath the vehicle, officials said. (Lauren Petracca/The New York Times)
5 hours ago

Multiple Passengers Are Killed After Bus Crashes in Western New York

On Friday, August 22, 2025, Fresno firefighters contained a house fire on East Cambridge Avenue, preventing major damage and reporting no injuries. (Fresno Fire)
5 hours ago

Fresno Firefighters Contain Cambridge Avenue Blaze, No Injuries Reported

Fresno heat hot heatwave High Humidity
6 hours ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

A smartphone with a displayed Intel logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. (Reuters File)
7 hours ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

Ghislaine Maxwell appears via video link during her arraignment hearing in Manhattan Federal Court, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. July 14, 2020 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters File)
7 hours ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend