As the Sun rises on Veteran’s Day the planet Mercury will be making it’s way directly between our star and ourselves. The result is that the itsy bitsy silhouette of the fastest planet will be visible on the disc of the Sun. As always with any astronomical event that involves looking directly at the Sun, you need to have a proper filter to block the intense light if you wanna see this for yourself. Also, Mercury is so teeny tiny that you’re going to need a telescope that can be covered with that proper filter in order to check this one out.  

Good thing our sister club the Popular Astronomy Club has you covered. They will be hosting a Mercury Transit Viewing from their regular site in the parking lot of Niabi Zoo starting at sunrise (6:45am) until the end of the transit at 12:35pm. These folks will have scopes set up properly for safe view of this rare event. Be sure to join them on the 11th this year otherwise you’ll be waiting until November 13th of 2032 for your next chance!

About the image: The featured image for this post is of the last transit of Mercury. Aside from the clouds creating a patchy texture on the surface of the Sun, there are two blemishes that can be seen on the disc. The larger one that is higher in the image is a sunspot. The much smaller dot is Mercury itself.