Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun in our solar system and there will be times that it will pass in front of the Sun and can be seen as a small dot slowly moving across the face of the Sun. This is a Transit of Mercury, they occur on average 13 times per century, the last was in November 2019 the next will be in 2032.
Here is a little-known astronomical fact, two transits of Mercury separated by 46 years which occurred on the same date and were both seen using Cooke of York telescopes.
The transit of Mercury on May 7th 1878 (it was
May 6th in the UK) was observed at 06 hours and 40 minutes as the
Sun rose in Australia, with Mercury already halfway across the surface of the
Sun, this observation was made by W J MacDonnell at Sydney using a 4.25 inch
Cooke telescope.
Although he lived in Suffolk, he was actually born in Goole
East Yorkshire and was educated at Bramham College.
www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
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