Mercury Transit summary

Mercury Transit is a rare occasion on which Mercury pass in front of the sun, a tiny tiny "eclipse".
My setup was like this. I used a Bresser 130N and Canon DSLR to photograph through it, however there was a slight focus problem and there are no good results from it. Another Camera, Nikon P900 was mounted as piggyback on the scope and worked properly and Another Camera Canon SX50 for handheld photos and for the Sunset video below.

My setup for Mercury transit

The beginning was not very promising the entire sky were cloudy and the sun could hardly be seen. However from time to time there was some less clouds and it was possible to see the transit.

Here is my first photo. Notice sunspot 2542 in the middle and tiny Mercury (imagine the Sun as a clock and Mercury is at 11).

Mercury Transit

 And here is another photo in which you can see how Mercury moves.

Mercury Transit

The sky cleared a bit so I put all cameras on auto mode using the telescope and a mount, and left to find a place where I can see the sunset

Here are two videos from the transit. The first one is about 2 hours of the Transit until the sun was too down.

In the sunset videos don't miss 00:40 where two airplanes transit the sun as well!
Here is a general view

Photographing the sunset

And the video.

And just the highlights of the sunset in regular speed (The airplane is in the beginning)

Mercury Transit sunset with airplane

It was a very interesting and unique event!

Use Orion to see Mercury

Mercury is an elusive planet. It is small, dim and most of the time to close to the sun to be seen at all. Yet , during its greatest elongation it is far enough from the Sun. In this period Mercury can is easy to spot after sunset or before sunrise.. Today 18-Apr-2016 Mercury is in greatest western elongation meaning it is easy to watch.

It is even easier as you can use the famous constellation Orion to help you find Mercury. Just continue the straight line from Orion's belt and go almost to the horizon and you will see Mercury. Actually Mercury is brighter than any of Orion's belt stars so you might be able to see it even before. Start watching about 45 minutes after sunset and look about 15 degrees up from the place the sun set. There is no other bright star in this area so when you finally see the white dot, it is mercury. And if you own a telescope try to observe Mercury and see its tiny but noticeable phase.

Here are some photos I took tonight to guide you

The first one is without annotations:

Orion and Mercury

And here are annotations. Do not confuse the airplane with Mercury.

 And if we mentioned an airplane here are some more airplanes (Looks like the IAF is practicing for Independence day)

And a bird on the background of the moon (From 17-Apr-2016)

Mercury Transit 2016

An interesting event for 2016 is Mercury Transit on May 9th 2016 from 11:12 until 18:42 (UTC time) which will be visible from almost anywhere, at least in partial. Mercury's transits are not so rare and happen each 3.5-16 years. the first transit was observed by Pierre Gassendi in 1631 (!).

Mercury looks much smaller against the sun, but is still visible.

To View the transit you will need special equipment. Never look directly at the sun with your eyes or with an optical device. Do not use old films, dark glasses or even welder glasses. The best method is to use special solar eclipse sunglasses. They are not expensive, buy several for family and friends and use them. You will see a small dark circle on the Sun.

Also check your local astronomy club association. The Venus transit is a major events, so many clubs will open their gates and give the public the chance to view the transit through a telescope. Even if you do have your own telescope and binoculars, don't use them since viewing the Sun requires special equipment.

It is possible to see at least part of the transit from almost anywhere on Earth. In the following map you can check which part of the transit you will see in your location. From Western Europe, South America and the US east coast you will be able to see the entire transit. From Eastern Europre, most of Asia and Africa and the US west coast you will see it partially. Australia, Indoneisa and Japan, sorry.

Mercury Transit 2016 Viewing Map

All the safe ways to watch the Mercury's transit are detailed in the link.

 Here is an illustration By Tomruen (wikipedia)

Mercury's Transit  illustration By Tomruen (wikipedia)

Venus and Mercury Conjunction

Venus and Mercury are in conjunction and it is easy to see the pair at southwest just after sunset. Bright Venus is visible immediately but it will take some 20 minutes to see Mercury. Their closet distance was during 9-11/01/2015 at about half a degree (just like the full moon), but they will be close together during the following few days.

Lets start with the better video from 2015-01-12 and thew whole story just after

As always better to watch on you-tube site with 1080hd resolution!

The first photos are from 11-Jan-2015. My point of view was quite good, as the pictures include the Israeli International airport (TLV), so you can see airplanes takeoff (In a curved S shape) and land.

As I tried to photograph, a bunch of very young curios kids got around me asking so many questions and bumping the tripod from time to time which of course damaged the video since it changed the composition and I have to throw away blurry photos. However they were so cute and asked so many questions - What is a star? How big it is? What is its name (4 times, I hope they got it finally). What is this star (Orion constellation at the east)? Where is the polar star? and so on... You simply can't be crossed at such nice kids!

Here are some photos and the video. The camera is Canon 700d with 18-250 Sigma lens.

Venus Mercury and an airplane landing (bottom right

Venus, Mercury and an airplane taking off

The video is a composition of about 200 photos taken during 50 minutes period Until Venus dropped behind the clouds (make sure to watch on HD 720 at least)! Don't miss the airplanes! They add a lot to the video.

I wanted to try again so I went today (12-Jan-2015) to a different place with a friend and tried a different approach, which basically is to photograph much more frames. I came out with around 1400 frames. Toward the end of the timelapse you will be able to see Mars as well at the top left - 3 planets and even four if you count Earth,
Few photos:

Venus and Mercury - 2015-01-12

Venus and Mercury - 2015-01-12

Venus and Mercury - 2015-01-12

Venus and Mercury - 2015-01-12

And the video from January 12th 2015

Related articles:
Venus and Jupiter conjunction
Venus and the Pleiades

Jupiter Venus and Mercury

An interesting stellar conjunction is about to happen, starting from 20th of may until the 27th of May 2013. Jupiter, Venus and Mercury will be close to each other in the west, immediately after sunset.
Conjunction between two planets are very common and even between three planets are not rare. Conjunction are always a nice sight to watch and no equipment is needed. Look here for photos of a previous conjunction between Jupiter and Venus and try to think of a great photographs opportunists near your house.


This is what you will see on May 21st. Mercury is only 5 degrees above the horizon and Jupiter is 13. Jupiter is going down and down and Venus and Mercury up. Watch for several nights to see how the planets move.

Jupiter Venus and Mercury May 21st 2013

And here is a real photo from 22-May-2013. Jupiter is in the top, Venus and Mercury in the bottom.

Jupiter Venus and Mercury 22-May-2013

This is the planets position on May 26yh. Mercury is now the highest of the planets.

Jupiter Venus and Mercury May 21st 2013

And a real photo taken by my dear wife Rosalind Eidelheit. As you can see, Rosalind was very lucky to find some seconds with all three planets visible with these many clouds!

Jupiter Venus and Mercury May 26th 2013

And just one day after. Much less clouds!

Jupiter Venus and Mercury May 27th 2013

And another one from the 28th. I like the power lines which look like a musical score - a celestial symphony

Jupiter Venus and Mercury May 28th 2013

Jupiter will continue to go down until it will disappear from the evening sky and become a morning start, while Venus is about to dominate them for the coming months.