Calendar of Mercury Transits
With Some Interesting Tidbits & Historical Notes
Transits of Mercury: Seven Centuries (1601–2300) 1601–1700 1701–1800 1801–1900 1901–2000 2001–2100 2101–2200 2201–2300
1605 Nov 01 1615 May 03 1618 Nov 04 1628 May 05 1631 Nov 07 1644 Nov 08 1651 Nov 02 1661 May 03 1664 Nov 04 1674 May 06 1677 Nov 07 1690 Nov 10 1697 Nov 03
1707 May 05 1710 Nov 06 1723 Nov 09 1736 Nov 11 1740 May 02 1743 Nov 05 1753 May 06 1756 Nov 07 1769 Nov 09 1776 Nov 02 1782 Nov 12 1786 May 04 1789 Nov 05 1799 May 07
1802 Nov 09 1815 Nov 12 1822 Nov 05 1832 May 05 1835 Nov 07 1845 May 08 1848 Nov 09 1861 Nov 12 1868 Nov 05 1878 May 06 1881 Nov 07 1891 May 09 1894 Nov 10
1907 Nov 14 1914 Nov 07 1924 May 07 1927 Nov 10 1937 May 11 1940 Nov 11 1953 Nov 14 1957 May 05 1960 Nov 07 1970 May 09 1973 Nov 10 1986 Nov 13 1993 Nov 06 1999 Nov 15
2003 May 07 2006 Nov 08 2016 May 09 2019 Nov 11 2032 Nov 13 2039 Nov 07 2049 May 07 2052 Nov 08 2062 May 10 2065 Nov 11 2078 Nov 14 2085 Nov 07 2095 May 08 2098 Nov 10
2108 May 12 2111 Nov 13 2124 Nov 15 2131 Nov 09 2141 May 09 2144 Nov 11 2154 May 13 2157 Nov 14 2170 Nov 16 2174 May 08 2177 Nov 09 2187 May 11 2190 Nov 12
2203 Nov 16 2210 Nov 09 2220 May 09 2223 Nov 12 2233 May 12 2236 Nov 13 2249 Nov 16 2256 Nov 09 2266 May 10 2269 Nov 12 2279 May 13 2282 Nov 14 2295 Nov 17
Some Interesting Transit Tidbits
A Few Historical Notes
- Transits of Mercury and Venus became historically important because used to determine distance of Earth from Sun, a value not well-known until the late 19th century.
- Since 1601, 55 transits have occurred.
- The number per century is 13 to 14 (mean frequency about 13.4 years).
- Currently transits possible only during first halves of May or November when Mercury near line of nodes (descending and ascending notes respectively).
- Currently November transit about twice as common as in May due to its large orbital eccentricity.
- Mercury appears as a tiny, black dot on the Sun during a transit; a telescope is needed to see it.
- In May Mercury is near aphelion (farthest from Sun) and shows a 10 arc second diameter disk (about 1/158 of a solar disk; in November Mercury is near perihelion (closest to Sun) and shows a 12 arc second disk (about 1/195 of a solar diameter). (Note: An arc second is 1/3600 of a degree.)
- Currently the smallest interval between successive transits is 3-1/2 years with two successive 3-1/2 year intervals possible; the longest 13 years.
- Currently similar geocentric phenomena repeat in a series of almost exactly 46 years since 191 Mercury revolution periods (88.968 days) of 16,801.0 days is nearly 46 Earth periods (365.242 days) of 16,801.1 days. (Since not exact, a gradual transition from one transit to next occurs.) An even better periodicity or series of 217 years also occurs.
References
- 0807 A.D. Spot seen on Sun for 8 days; believed to be Mercury but transits typically last less than 6 hours and Mercury is too small to see without a telescope.
- 1631 A.D. First observed transit. Predicted by Johannes Kepler who died the year before. Observed by Pierre Gassendi in Paris and three others elsewhere. Only Gassendi publishes useable observations. Notes Mercury appeared much smaller than anyone expected so many doubted results. (His diameter of 21.4 arc seconds was actually about twice the real figure of 10.9 arc seconds!)
- 1638 A.D. Englishman Jeremiah Horrocks erroneously calculates time of transit but became first to observe a transit of Venus the following year.
- 1651 A.D. Observed only by Englishman Jeremy Shakerley in India. Dies there and observations lost.
- 1661 A.D. Observed by Johann Hevelius at Gdanks (Danzig) & in London by Dutch scientist Christiann Huygens, discoverer of Saturn's largest satellite (Titan) and nature of Saturn's rings.
- 1677 A.D. Observed by Edmund Halley when in St. Helena; first to describe "black drop" effect where planet appears to stretch and attach itself to Sun's limb (edge) when either moving on or off Sun's disk.
- 1743 A.D. Transit used to determine longitude (error was only 20 seconds).
- 1753 A.D. Most intensely observed transit to date; international teams assembled. First recorded observation of Frenchman, Chales Messier, creator of his famous catalog of deep sky objects still widely used.
- 1769 A.D. John Ewing notes Mercury's disk sharp and well-defined; Concludes Mercury has no atmosphere.
- 1973 A.D. Closest observed deep transit—Mercury passed only 26 arc seconds from Sun's center.
- 1999 A.D. Last transit visible from Florida before 2006. A Partial transit—the disk of Mercury only partially entered the solar disk from some Earth locations (including Florida). Since invention of telescope only one partial transit, in 1937; next is 2391 A.D.
- 2003 A.D. Florida did not see any of this transit.
- 2006 A.D. Next transit visbile in Florida since 1999. Europe, Africa and western Asia will not see this transit; the rest of the world sees some or all. Florida sees about 2/3 of the duration with the Sun setting before the transits ends.
- 2016 A.D. Next transit visible in Florida or anywhere since 2006—a ten year interval. Europe, Africa and western Asia will not see this transit; the rest of the world sees some or all. Florida sees about 2/3 of the duration with the Sun setting before the transits ends.
- 2019 A.D. Deepest transit of 21st Century— Mercury passes only 76 arc seconds from Sun's center.
- 2190 A.D. Near central transit Mercury passes only 9 arc seconds from Sun's center.
Cunningham, C. 2006, Mercury Vol. 5, No. 5 (Sept./Oct.), pp. 12–19, Mercury's Time to Shine
Espenak, F. 2005, Mercury Transits: Seven Century Catalog
Espenak, F. 2005, Observer's Handbook 2006, pp. 135–141, 2003 Transit of Mercury (Royal Astronomical Soc. of Canada)
Espenak, F. 2005, Planetary Transits Across the Sun
Meeus, J. 1989, Transits (Willmann-Bell)
Meeus, J. 2002, More Mathematical Astronomical Morsels ( Willmann-Bell)
Meeus, J. 2004, Mathematical Astronomical Morsels III (Willmann-Bell)
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Last Updated October 17, 2006
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