NASA releases stunning video of Mercury passing the sun
- 8 years ago
SPACE — On May 9, NASA filmed footage of Mercury passing by the sun.
The rare event, called a transit, only happens slightly more than once a decade. According to NASA, while Mercury passes the sun every 88 days, over four times faster than the Earth, it's not normally visible to us as the three celestial bodies rarely align.
Mercury was seen passing by the sun as a tiny black dot. The planet's entire travel across the sun, as visible from Earth, took about 7.5 hours. But Mercury is too small to be visible without magnification, so NASA took it upon themselves to create a stunning video, which was released the night of the event.
The event happens about 13 times a century. The last time was in 2006, and scientists say the next one won't occur until 2019.
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The rare event, called a transit, only happens slightly more than once a decade. According to NASA, while Mercury passes the sun every 88 days, over four times faster than the Earth, it's not normally visible to us as the three celestial bodies rarely align.
Mercury was seen passing by the sun as a tiny black dot. The planet's entire travel across the sun, as visible from Earth, took about 7.5 hours. But Mercury is too small to be visible without magnification, so NASA took it upon themselves to create a stunning video, which was released the night of the event.
The event happens about 13 times a century. The last time was in 2006, and scientists say the next one won't occur until 2019.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus