Mercury transit expected on Nov. 11

At about 8:30 a.m. Nov. 11, 2019, as the Sun is coming up, Mercury is supposed to make a transit of the Sun.

Richard Jones with the Ponca City Astronomy Club said a transit is like an eclipse of the Sun, but much less spectacular .

“Mercury will be passing between the Sun and the Earth,” he said. “I think that the transit will take about 6 1/2 hours. To see this event, a properly equipped telescope is required. I have three telescopes that can be used and the location for doing this event is yet to be determined.”

He said that what makes the event worth seeing is that it only happens about four time each century, The last one was May 9, 2016, and there won’t be another one until Nov. 13, 2032.