Time to see Mercury rising

The rare celestial event of Mercury transiting the Sun will be visible in India at Agartala, Aizawl, Imphal, Itanagar, Jorhat, Kohima and Silchar in the early hours of November 9.

The rare celestial event of Mercury transiting the Sun will be visible in India at Agartala, Aizawl, Imphal, Itanagar, Jorhat, Kohima and Silchar in the early hours of November 9.

The transit of Mercury, the first planet from the Sun and the smallest among the recently defined classical planets, will also be seen in Port Blair. It will also be visible in eastern Asia, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Antarctica and North America on November 8 and 9.

The black dot of Mercury will be visible at the most interior point on the disc of the Sun at 3.11 am (IST). The transit will end around 5.40 am on November 9.

The event is rare as only 13 such transits occur in a century on an average, said D P Duari, the director (research and academic) of M P Birla Planetarium here.

Duari said the lucky viewers were those positioned not only on the right side of the globe, but also in a place where the transit would occur during the day.

HT Image