Today's Image

Photos! May 9, 2016 transit of Mercury

Posted by
Deborah Byrd
and
May 9, 2016
Greg Hogan in Kathleen, Georgia, caught Mercury not long after the transit began.
Greg Hogan in Kathleen, Georgia, caught Mercury not long after the transit began.
May 9, 2016, transit of Mercury from Vegastar Carpentier Photography in France.
May 9, 2016, transit of Mercury from Vegastar Carpentier Photography in France.
Transit of Mercury from San Juan, Puerto Rico - May 9, 2016 - by Fernando Roquel Torres.
Fernando Roquel Torres’ images show the movement of Mercury across the sun’s face on May 9, 2016. From San Juan, Puerto Rico.

View larger. | Mercury Transit in deep infrared (830 nm) with solar surface stacked and deconvoluted, by Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona. Eliot wrote,
View larger. | Mercury transit in deep infrared (830 nm) with solar surface stacked and deconvoluted, by Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona. Eliot wrote, “The stacking and processing brings up some solar surface detail but also produces an image artifact, showing Mercury as surrounded with a clear circle.” Read more about this image at Eliot’s Flickr page.
View larger. | Eliot Herman in Tucson caught the famous black drop effect for the May 9 Mercury transit, shown here in contrast to the same effect seen on Venus. Read more about this image on Eliot's Fickr page.
View larger. | Eliot Herman in Tucson caught the famous black drop effect for the May 9 Mercury transit, shown here in contrast to the same effect seen on Venus. Read more about this image on Eliot’s Fickr page. He said of the transit, “Those hours went fast changing cameras and working at it….”
View larger. | Mercury transit with a Hydrogen-Alpha telescope, by Efrain Morales / Sociedad de Astronomia del Caribe. Thanks also to Eddie Irizarry for submitting!
View larger. | Mercury transit with a Hydrogen-Alpha telescope, by Efrain Morales / Sociedad de Astronomia del Caribe. Thanks also to Eddie Irizarry for submitting!
May 9, 2016, Mercury transit from Bjorn Sorhoy in Norway. Thanks, Bjorn!
May 9, 2016, Mercury transit from Bjorn Sorhoy in Norway. Thanks, Bjorn!
“Clouds finally broke!” said Patricia Graves.
Shreenivasan Manievannan caught the May 9 Mercury transit from San Francisco, through a thick marine fog rolling in from the ocean.
Shreenivasan Manievannan caught the May 9 Mercury transit from San Francisco, through a thick marine fog rolling in from the ocean.

Karl Diefenderfer in Quakerstown, Pennsylvania, caught this shot of the Mercury transit.
Karl Diefenderfer in Quakerstown, Pennsylvania, caught this shot of the Mercury transit.

May 9, 2016, Mercury transit from Abhijit Juvekar in India. He wrote:
May 9, 2016, Mercury transit from Abhijit Juvekar in India. He wrote: “Although it is rare event to be seen from Earth, such transit events can be seen commonly any time if you have spaceship capable of going at exact place where you can see planet aligned with sun. Maybe in Future people can see transit events like these while their routine trips from one planet to another just the same as we take train to commute from home to office today.”

Posted 
May 9, 2016
 in 
Today's Image

Deborah Byrd

View Articles
About the Author:
Deborah Byrd (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.

Like what you read?
Subscribe and receive daily news delivered to your inbox.

Your email address will only be used for EarthSky content. Privacy Policy
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

More from 

Deborah Byrd

View All
Visible planets and night sky guide for October
October 18, 2026
Cassiopeia the Queen is overhead on autumn evenings
October 16, 2026
What star in the northeast flashes colorfully? It’s Capella!
October 15, 2026
Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our sun
October 14, 2026