by APOD Robot » Sun Aug 24, 2014 4:08 am
Mercury's Transit: An Unusual Spot on the Sun
Explanation: What's that dot on the Sun? If you look closely, it is almost perfectly round.
The dot is the result of an unusual type of
solar eclipse that occurred in 2006. Usually it is the
Earth's Moon that eclipses the Sun. This time, the planet
Mercury took a turn. Like the approach to New Moon before a
solar eclipse, the phase of Mercury became a continually thinner
crescent as the planet progressed toward an alignment with the Sun. Eventually the phase of
Mercury dropped to zero and the dark spot of Mercury crossed our parent star. The situation could technically be labeled a Mercurian
annular eclipse with an extraordinarily large
ring of fire. From above the
cratered planes of the night side of Mercury, the Earth appeared in its fullest phase. Hours later, as Mercury continued in its orbit, a slight crescent phase appeared again. The
next Mercurian solar eclipse will occur in 2016.
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[url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140824.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_140824.jpg[/img] [size=150]Mercury's Transit: An Unusual Spot on the Sun[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] What's that dot on the Sun? If you look closely, it is almost perfectly round. [url=http://www.davidcortner.com/astro/mtransit/]The dot[/url] is the result of an unusual type of [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060404.html]solar eclipse[/url] that occurred in 2006. Usually it is the [url=http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/moons_and_rings.html]Earth's Moon[/url] that eclipses the Sun. This time, the planet [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_%28mythology%29]Mercury[/url] took a turn. Like the approach to New Moon before a [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040926.html]solar eclipse[/url], the phase of Mercury became a continually thinner [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap061030.html]crescent[/url] as the planet progressed toward an alignment with the Sun. Eventually the phase of [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040606.html]Mercury dropped[/url] to zero and the dark spot of Mercury crossed our parent star. The situation could technically be labeled a Mercurian [url=http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/SEprimer.html]annular eclipse[/url] with an extraordinarily large [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020610.html]ring of fire[/url]. From above the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040912.html]cratered planes[/url] of the night side of Mercury, the Earth appeared in its fullest phase. Hours later, as Mercury continued in its orbit, a slight crescent phase appeared again. The [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Mercury_from_Earth]next Mercurian solar eclipse[/url] will occur in 2016.
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