Monday May 9 2016 – A rare sight today will be visible most of the day as the planet Mercury crosses in front of the sun. This happens once every 10 years and today it will be visible for eastern North America. While you should never stare directly at the sun, and this will not be something you will notice with your naked eye, there are ways you can watch it live online. Also, clouds will be returning today (I will post a weather update separately). Below are video links so you can view it here. First, what you need to know:
- “There’s a little black spot on the sun today” – The transit is similar to an eclipse, except the distance and size will not block out the entire view of the sun, rather be seen as a round dark spot.
- Mercury will travel about 30 miles per second across the face of the sun.
- This will begin at 7:21 AM EDT when Mercury will be visible on the edge of the sun
- 11:20 AM EDT- midpoint.
- This will end at 2:50 PM EDT when Mercury touches the other edge of the sun as it departs the view.
- Mercury will take take 7.5 hours for the transit across 864,300 miles of the face of the sun. So this will take place much of the work day and you can watch it online.
NASA Rendition
What this should look like
“She is trapped inside a month of gray
and they take a little every day….
She’ll change so suddenly
She’s just like mercury
Yeah, but she’s all right with me”
-Mercury – Counting Crows
How To Watch
Live steam from slooh.com
Live broadcast will begin at 7 AM EDT
Please share your thoughts, best weather pics/video, or just keep in touch via social media
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- Twitter: @JustinWeather
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Get the award winning Kid Weather App I made with my oldest son and support our love for science, weather, and technology. Our 3 year anniversary of the release and our contribution to STEM education is this November. It has been downloaded in 60 countries, and works in both temperature scales. With your support we can expand on the fun introduction to science and real weather.
Faith in the Flowers- For Save A Limb Fund
Help me support 16 year old Lexi Hack’s fundraiser to give back to the program that is helping fix her legs. See the display at Westminster’s Flower and Jazz Festival Saturday in the Bowman’s Booth. I plan to be there between 2 and 4 PM
These shirts (baseball T comes with red or black sleeves) and eco-friendly Tote Bag come with a bracelet to help raise money for Save A Limb Fund.
