Watch Mercury in rare transit

Take advantage of one of the last opportunities to view celestial occurrences during the current academic year when the Tulane University Observatory opens for a special viewing session Monday morning (May 9), from 8 to 11 a.m., to view the transit of Mercury.

According to NASA’s web site, this is a rare event: “Mercury passes between Earth and the sun only about 13 times a century, its last trek taking place in 2006.” 

It will be impossible to see Mercury without a telescope or other special optical equipment, though. Even through a telescope’s lens, the planet will appear to be a tiny black dot on the sun’s surface; its journey “across” the sun will take more than seven hours.

The observatory is located on the roof of Joseph Merrick Jones Hall, 6801 Freret St. For the most up-to-date information and other viewing events, follow the Tulane University Observatory’s Facebook page.