An interesting astronomical event took place today when the planet Mercury crossed the face of the Sun, appearing as a small, circular black dot against the much brighter disk of the Sun. The transit began at 12:12 and 19 seconds and lasted for seven and a half hours. The first image shows the planet as it first begins to move across the Sun.
The start of the transit.
A short while later, Mercury had moved.
Transit in progress.
The next chance to observe a transit of Mercury from the UK will occur in November, 2032.
These images were obtained using a spotting ‘scope, fitted with a mylar filter, and a Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone.