Astronomy event: Mercury transit across the sun

On Monday 9 May 2016, you will be able to witness a transit of the planet Mercury across the solar disk at sunset. This astronomical phenomena will be partly visible in Mauritius, according to NASA. A Transit of Mercury occurs when planet Mercury is seen to cross the disk of the Sun. The planet is then seen as a tiny spot crossing the solar disk. Transits of Mercury across the disk of the Sun are relatively uncommon events (with the last ones in 1993, 1999 (not seen in Mauritius), 2003 and 2006 (not seen in Mauritius). [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"16497","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-27871 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"297","height":"216","alt":"Mercury-Transit-2016"}}]] This time around, the transit will be partially visible in Mauritius. Observations of objects in the sky that can be located in the general direction of the Sun (sun itself, planets, satellites). These are potentially dangerous. For the bad news: You will need a good telescope equipped with a proper solar filter to see Mercury silhouetted against the sun. That is because Mercury is very small compared to the sun – only 1/160 the diameter of the star. (Warning: NEVER look directly at the sun without proper protection. Serious and permanent eye damage can result.) As the disk of Mercury is tiny compared to the solar surface, there will be no change in the appearance of the Sun in the sky. It will be as dangerous for our eyesight to directly look at the Sun with suitably unprotected eyes at the time of the Transit of Mercury as it is on any normal day, when there is no planet in front of the solar disc. One should therefore never look at the Sun with unprotected eyes. Planet Mercury will not be visible to the naked eye as it crosses the surface of the Sun.