The Mercury Transit of 2019 Has Begun!

Grab your solar eclipse glasses or protected astronomical equipment, because Mercury is marching across the sun as we speak.

The closest planet to the sun began its transit — an apparent passage across the sun from the perspective of Earth — at 7:35 a.m. EST (1235 GMT) and will continue its journey for 5.5 hours. It will be visible in the U.S.and many other parts of the world. Be sure to check this event out, as it will be the last time until 2032 that Mercury transits the sun. And that occurrence  won't be visible in the U.S.; Americans will have to wait until 2049 for the next visible event.

You can watch the Mercury transit of 2019 live here, courtesy of Slooh.com. You can also watch the Slooh webcast directly here on YouTube.

Mercury made first contact (when its disk was externally tangent to the sun) at 7:35 a.m. EST (1235 GMT), just past sunrise on the U.S. East Coast. Its second contact — when the disk appeared in full silhouette on the sun, took place two minutes later, at 7:37 a.m. EST (1237 GMT). This included a brief "black drop effect" (or black teardrop shape) that made Mercury appear to connect to the solar disk edge. This effect happens due to imperfections in telescope optics.

See more

Coming up later today will be third contact (1:02 p.m. EST, 1802 GMT), when you can see the black drop effect again. Mercury will be at the other edge of the sun and starting to exit. The transit will complete at 1:04 p.m. EST (1804 GMT) when Mercury exits the sun and completes fourth contact.

You can easily watch the event safely online on channels such as Slooh or the Virtual Telescope, or through a feed from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft.

Mercury begins its transit of the sun on Nov. 11, 2019. This image was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory as Mercury was approaching the limb of the sun to begin the transit. (Image credit: NASA/SDO/HMI/AIA)

Mercury is too small to spot with the naked eye, but you can watch it yourself with a telescope or a pair of binoculars as long as they are equipped with proper solar protection. (Never look at the sun, even briefly, without protecting your eyes and equipment.) You can also go to a local astronomy club or event that has similarly equipped telescopes or binoculars.

This will be the fourth time this century (out of 14 occasions) that Mercury will cross the sun from Earth's perspective. Transits of Mercury are relatively rare because usually, when the planet is near the sun from Earth's perspective, it is slightly "out of plane" — meaning that it passes above or below the sun. Occasionally, however, the planets and the sun all line up in the sky and it's possible to see Mercury transiting across the face of our star. Scientists are taking advantage of the opportunity to perform some science related to studying Mercury's tenuous atmosphere, while citizen scientists have some projects of their own.

Editor's Note: Visit Space.com on Nov. 11 to see live webcast views of the rare Mercury transit as shown from telescopes on Earth and in space, along with complete coverage of the celestial event. If you SAFELY capture a photo of the transit of Mercury and would like to share it with Space.com and our news partners for a story or gallery, you can send images and comments in to spacephotos@space.com. 

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

All About Space Holiday 2019

Need more space? Subscribe to our sister title "All About Space" Magazine for the latest amazing news from the final frontier! (Image credit: All About Space)

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Elizabeth Howell
Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace