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Credit: ISAS,
Yohkoh Project
Explanation:
This sequence of
false color X-ray images captures a rare event -
the passage or
transit of planet Mercury in front of the Sun.
Mercury's small disk is
silhouetted against the bright background of X-rays from the hot
Solar Corona.
It appears just to the right of center in the
top frame and moves farther right as the sequence progresses toward
the bottom.
The dark notch is
a coronal hole near
the Solar South Pole, while
a flaring coronal bright point can be seen to the left of the notch
in the top frames.
The frames were recorded on November 6, 1993 by the
Soft X-ray Telescope
on board
the orbiting Yohkoh satellite.
Transits of Mercury (and Venus) were historically used to discover
the geometry of the solar system and to
map planet Earth itself.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Sun - Mercury - transit - X-ray
Publications with words: Sun - Mercury - transit - X-ray
See also: