Observing 2019 Mercury Transit at the Observatory

On the 11th of November, Mercury will pass in front of the Sun for about five and a half hours.

This rare phenomenon, known as a transit of Mercury, will be visible from the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra (OGAUC), located at the top of "Santa Clara".

The transit will begin at 12:34 a.m. and end at 6:05 p.m. With the observatory's telescopes, properly equipped with solar filters, we will be able to see Mercury slowly pass in front of the Sun, as if it were the head of a pin on a tennis ball.

The final phase of the transit will not be visible in Coimbra, as the sun will set at 17:20, but it will be possible to follow it online. Of course, direct observation of this phenomenon will depend on weather conditions.

On 7 November 1631, Pierre Gassendi was the first to observe a transit of Mercury, something that Galileo Galilei was never able to do. Since then, more than twenty have been seen, the last one on 9 May 2016, also observed in Coimbra. The next transit of Mercury will take place in 2032.

^{Translation by Diana Taborda}