Today, planet Mercury will pass across the sun. Not everyone will be able to see it. Those in Australia, New Zealand and Japan will miss it. The event occurs 13 to 14 times a century. The last time our solar system’s smallest planet passed between the earth and the sun was in 2006. The next time, after today, will be in November 2019.
Assuming no cloud cover it will be visible in Switzerland from 13:12 until 20:40, reaching the midpoint at 16:56 – times for Lucerne. The NASA video above simulates the event. The times shown in this video are east coast US time, 6 hours behind Swiss time.
Mercury, the planet closest to the sun – © Andreus | Dreamstime.com
NASA will stream the event live on NASA TV and on their Facebook page. Watching these video streams is a safer option than trying to watch the sun through a filter, something that can cause eye damage if not done correctly.
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