May 27, 2003
In the time it took you to read this, the Earth moved another thousand miles through space. You are not standing still. You never have been.
A Mercury Transit Sequence
Birthday · May 27, 2003
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published May 27, 2003. Credit: Dominique Dierick. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
rlier this month, the planet Mercury crossed the face of the Sun, as seen from Earth. Because the plane of Mercury's orbit is not exactly coincident with the plane of Earth's orbit, Mercury usually appears to pass over or under the Sun. The above time-lapse sequence, superimposed on a single frame, was taken from a balcony in Belgium on May 7 and shows the entire transit. The solar crossing lasted over five hours, so that the above 23 images were taken roughly 15 minutes apart. The north pole of the Sun, the Earth, Mercury's orbit, although all different, all occur in directions slightly above the left of the image. Near the center and on the far right, sunspots are visible.
Image credit: Dominique Dierick