#Repost from @itsthemind : On Monday, Nov. 11, the planet Mercury will transit in front of the sun. Article via #JonathanCorum on the NYTimes [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/08/science/mercury-transits-the-sun.html?smid=tw-nytimesscience&smtyp=cur]: " Mercury is the fastest planet, and if it orbited on the same plane as Earth we would see it pass in front of the sun every 166 days. But Mercury’s orbit is tipped, so we only see it cross the sun in the rare November or May when Mercury rises or falls directly between the Earth and sun. November transits are angled upward, as Mercury rises above the plane of Earth’s orbit. During these transits Mercury is close to the sun and moving quickly. May transits are less frequent and angled downward. Mercury moves slower and looks larger because the planet’s elliptical orbit has carried it farther from the sun and closer to Earth. This year Mercury will pass closer to the center of the sun’s disk than any other transit this century. The first documented transit of Mercury was on Nov. 7, 1631. And the next transit will be on Nov. 13, 2032. The first documented transit of Mercury was on Nov. 7, 1631. The transit was predicted by Johannes Kepler, who died in 1630, and observed by the French astronomer Pierre Gassendi. " #animation #astronomy #space #mercury #transit #mercurytransit #mercury2019 #sun #instaspace #interesting #planet #orbit #solarsystem #Gassendi #Kepler #science #allaroundscience (at Plainfield, New Jersey) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4tt8IznsqS/?igshid=jeo9bkjyiqfw
