Babe Among the Stars: Mercury Transits from Earth and Mars
Created | Updated Apr 24, 2016
Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth - Ptolemy
Mercury Transits from Earth and Mars
On 9 May the planet Mercury will transit the Sun. The last time this occurred from our vantage point on Earth was November 2006. Allowing for favourable weather, the transit should be viewable from South America, western parts of Europe and Africa, and the eastern side of North America. The next Mercury transit (seen from Earth) will take place on 11 November, 2019. Interestingly, a Mercury transit of the Sun has been observed offworld - on 3 June 2014 to be precise, by the Curiosity rover on the red planet Mars.
Heart-shaped Sunspot
Last year we were stunned by the revelation of the heart-shaped region on Pluto. This giant heart-shaped sunspot is surely in the running for this year's romantic astronomy picture of the year. Check out the tiny Earth on the image for size comparison!
May 2016 Diary Dates
The Eta Aquarids meteor shower will happen between 19 April and 28 May, with the peak being between the night of 5 May and the early hours of the morning on 7 May. This meteor shower is what remains of an historic passing of Halley's Comet, so every 'shooting star' you see is a remnant of that famous comet. Conditions are favourable this year thanks to the timing of the new moon.
- 01: The 52m-asteroid 2014 US115 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 02: The Moon passes 1.7° north of Neptune
- 02: All four Galilean moons will be on one side of Jupiter
- 04: The Moon passes 2° south of Uranus
- 05: The 355m-asteroid 2008 TZ3 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 05/06: Eta Aquarids meteor shower peak (Southern Hemisphere)
- 06: The Moon is at perigee (closest to Earth)
- 06: New Moon
- 07: All four Galilean moons will be on one side of Jupiter
- 08: The Moon passes 0.5° north of Aldebaran (alpha Tauri)
- 08: The 7m-asteroid 2014 JG55 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 09: Mercury transits the Sun
- 12: Ganymede will transit Jupiter
- 15: The Moon passes 2° south of Jupiter
- 16: All four Galilean moons will be on one side of Jupiter
- 18: The Moon is at apogee (furthest from Earth)
- 18: The 116m-asteroid 2016 GS2 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 21: The Moon passes 6° north of Mars
- 21: Full Moon - the Flower Moon
- 22: Io transits Jupiter
- 22: The Moon passes 3° north of Saturn
- 24: Europa transits Jupiter
- 24: May Camelopardalids meteor shower peak
- 24: The 215m-asteroid 2009 DL46 will pass Earth beyond the orbit of the Moon
- 28: All four Galilean moons will be on one side of Jupiter
- 29: The Moon passes 1.4° north of Neptune
- 30: Mars is closest to Earth (46.8m miles)
Chat about your celestial observances at the H2G2 Astronomy Society. Comment on anything in this edition of Babe Among the Stars by starting a new conversation below.
