Mercury across the Sun, May 9 the astronomical event of the year: at what time it – Blasting News

The wait for astronomy lovers and the merely curious is ending. Monday May 9 planet Mercury will pass in front of the disk of the Sun as a result of an orbital junction of the same planet and the Earth that is occurring 13- 14 times every 100 years. On these occasions, Mercury pod between the Earth and the Sun and its silhouette will be visible in the background of our star.

What time there will be the passage of mercury across the Sun

mercury it is one of the two inner planets of the solar system along with Venus. For this reason, periodically, their orbit brings them to pass between the Earth and the Sun , offering the possibility to be observed without having to do night and up early complex coordinate calculations. The only precaution to take is to not try to observe the passage in front of the solar disc to the naked eye to avoid the risk of serious damage to the retina. Will need to obtain special protection to protect themselves from the sun, just like it does in the case of observation of solar eclipses.

The phenomenon will begin at 13:12 and will last till 20:42, with the central phase of the transition calculated for 16:57 hours. Due to the size of Mercury , this will appear as a dot the size of a sesquicentennial of the Sun , in moving from left to right. For this reason, the vision will only be possible with the use of binoculars or a good telephoto lens.

The next steps Mercury across the Sun are scheduled for 11 November 2019 and November 13, 2032.

the initiatives to observe the transit of Mercury across the Sun

Many activities planned by groups of amateur astronomers, among which we highlight the educational events arranged by ‘ INAF, the national Institute of Astrophysics, throughout the national territory. These are some of the meetings scheduled:

– Asiago : visit the Astronomical Observatory of Padua. They are divided into three shifts, and we recommend booking through the site www.oapd.inaf.it;

– Bologna : free observations in Piazza VIII Agosto from 13 hours to 18 hours ;

– Catania : remarks to the audience at the Observatory of the town of Etna, starting at 15, with email reservation divulgazione@oact.inaf.it;

– Naples : transmission on Capodimonte Observatory web site of the filming of Mercury before to Sun made with our instruments.

For a full schedule of activities planned by INAF throughout the national territory can be consulted on the website http: // www. media.inaf.it.