CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mercury has begun a relatively rare move across the sun.
The solar-planetary ballet got underway just after 7 a.m. on the east coast with the smallest planet appearing as a tiny black dot on the face of the sun. The transit will last for a total of about 7½ hours. The last time it happened was 2006. It will happen again three years from now, but then not until 2032. NASA says the event occurs only about 13 times a century.
The entirety of Mercury's journey will be viewable to the eastern U.S. and Canada, as well as most of western Europe and South America.
To catch a glimpse, viewers need binoculars or telescopes with protective solar filters. Mercury's journey can also be seen via alivestream on NASA's website.
People showed up early at the Milwaukee Public Museum hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare event.
Dontrell Hicks stopped by and said "It's amazing! Words can't describe seeing the sun that close, and then seeing another planet cross it."
Robert Bonadurer with the Milwaukee Public Museum says ''You know Mercury is a dead world. It's barren. It's a dead world, but it is lovely. It's heavily cratered. It's a lot like the moon. It's closest to the sun and the days are very long there."
If NASA is on break, you can also watch in the embedded live stream below:
