LOS ANGELES
(AP) ─ Mercury's brief trip Wednesday between Earth and the sun treated
sky watchers to a celestial event most people get to see less than once a
decade.
The
minuscule planet appeared as a tiny dot passing from left to right across the
face of the sun. The five-hour passing, called a transit, was viewable only
with specially outfitted telescopes and online telescope cameras.
The
crossing, which occurs about 13 times a century, last occurred in 2003 and will
not happen again until 2016, according to NASA.
Amateur
astronomers set up about three dozen telescopes on the lawn of the newly
renovated Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, one of many facilities that held
special viewing parties.
"I guess
it's kind of amazing and it's humbling. The sun is so gigantic and our universe
is so gigantic,'' said Kari Peviani, 26, a visitor.
The
observatory recently reopened after being closed for five years during its $93
million restoration.
This year's
transit was visible in large parts of North and South America, Australia and Asia, but not in Europe, Africa, the Middle East or India, where it was nighttime.
Transits of
Mercury are more frequent than Venus, which occur in pairs, roughly twice in
each century. The next transit of Venus is in 2012.
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