Still seeing stars
Published Date: October 30th, 2006
This Wednesday the cellestial heavens will provide a free light show as one of the smallest planets in the solar system traipses in front of the sun; Mercury. The last time the transit of Mercury happened was in 2003. It will not occur again until 2016.
The transit, or passage of a planet across the face of the sun, is a relatively rare event. If you are viewing from Earth, only transits of Mercury and Venus are possible. There are about 13 transits of Mercury each century. Savannah won’t notice it getting any darker, but the West Coast of the United States will experience the entire transit. The event will begin right before dusk. The entire passage lasts approximately four hours and 58 minutes and we won’t be able to view at all without magnification.
BTW—> An astronomical transit is when one celestial body appears to move across the face of another celestial body, as seen by an observer at some particular vantage point.
