Transit of Mercury from Mars
Encyclopedia
A transit
of Mercury across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when the planet Mercury
passes directly between the Sun
and Mars
, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Mercury can be seen from Mars as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun.
Transits of Mercury from Mars are much more common than transits of Mercury from Earth
: there are several per decade.
No one has ever seen a transit of Mercury from Mars, but they could be observed by future Mars colonists.
The Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity could have observed the transit on January 12, 2005 (from 14:45 UTC to 23:05 UTC); however the only available for this had insufficient resolution. They were able to observe transits of Deimos
across the Sun, but at 2' angular diameter
, Deimos is about 20 times larger than Mercury's 6.1" angular diameter. Ephemeris data generated by JPL Horizons indicates that Opportunity would be able to observe the transit from the start until local sunset at about 19:23 UTC, while Spirit would be able to observe it from local sunrise at about 19:38 UTC until the end of the transit.
The Mercury-Mars synodic period is 100.888 days. It can be calculated using the formula 1/(1/P-1/Q), where P is the orbital period
of Mercury (87.969 days) and Q is the orbital period of Mars (686.98 days).
The inclination
of Mercury's orbit with respect to that of Mars is 5.16°, which is less than its value of 7.00° with respect to Earth's ecliptic.
is extremely rare, but somehow more frequent than from Earth, and will next occur in the years , and .
On several occasions an almost identical event is predicted: a transit of Mercury and a transit of Venus, or transit of Earth
will follow themselves, one after the other, in an interval of only several hours.
On November 28, 3867 there is a transit of Earth and Moon, and two days later a transit of Mercury occurs.
On January 16, 18551 transits of Mercury and Venus are separated by 14 hours.
Astronomical transit
The term transit or astronomical transit has three meanings in astronomy:* A transit is the astronomical event that occurs when one celestial body appears to move across the face of another celestial body, hiding a small part of it, as seen by an observer at some particular vantage point...
of Mercury across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when the planet Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...
passes directly between the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
and Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Mercury can be seen from Mars as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun.
Transits of Mercury from Mars are much more common than transits of Mercury from Earth
Transit of Mercury
A transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury comes between the Sun and the Earth, and Mercury is seen as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun....
: there are several per decade.
No one has ever seen a transit of Mercury from Mars, but they could be observed by future Mars colonists.
The Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity could have observed the transit on January 12, 2005 (from 14:45 UTC to 23:05 UTC); however the only available for this had insufficient resolution. They were able to observe transits of Deimos
Transit of Deimos from Mars
A transit of Deimos across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when Deimos passes directly between the Sun and a point on the surface of Mars, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars...
across the Sun, but at 2' angular diameter
Angular diameter
The angular diameter or apparent size of an object as seen from a given position is the “visual diameter” of the object measured as an angle. In the vision sciences it is called the visual angle. The visual diameter is the diameter of the perspective projection of the object on a plane through its...
, Deimos is about 20 times larger than Mercury's 6.1" angular diameter. Ephemeris data generated by JPL Horizons indicates that Opportunity would be able to observe the transit from the start until local sunset at about 19:23 UTC, while Spirit would be able to observe it from local sunrise at about 19:38 UTC until the end of the transit.
The Mercury-Mars synodic period is 100.888 days. It can be calculated using the formula 1/(1/P-1/Q), where P is the orbital period
Orbital period
The orbital period is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars.There are several kinds of...
of Mercury (87.969 days) and Q is the orbital period of Mars (686.98 days).
The inclination
Inclination
Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...
of Mercury's orbit with respect to that of Mars is 5.16°, which is less than its value of 7.00° with respect to Earth's ecliptic.
| Transits 2000–2100 | ||
|---|---|---|
| December 18, 2003 | July 13, 2044 | January 12, 2084 |
| January 12, 2005 | May 24, 2045 | November 22, 2084 |
| November 23, 2005 | November 8, 2052 | May 9, 2092 |
| May 10, 2013 | December 3, 2053 | June 3, 2093 |
| June 4, 2014 | October 14, 2054 | April 14, 2094 |
| April 15, 2015 | April 25, 2063 | |
| October 25, 2023 | March 6, 2064 | |
| September 5, 2024 | July 27, 2073 | |
| January 26, 2034 | August 22, 2074 | |
| February 21, 2035 | December 17, 2082 | |
Simultaneous transits
The simultaneous occurrence of a transit of Mercury and a transit of VenusTransit of Venus from Mars
A transit of Venus across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Mars, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars...
is extremely rare, but somehow more frequent than from Earth, and will next occur in the years , and .
On several occasions an almost identical event is predicted: a transit of Mercury and a transit of Venus, or transit of Earth
Transit of Earth from Mars
A transit of Earth across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when the planet Earth passes directly between the Sun and Mars, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Earth can be seen from Mars as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun...
will follow themselves, one after the other, in an interval of only several hours.
On November 28, 3867 there is a transit of Earth and Moon, and two days later a transit of Mercury occurs.
On January 16, 18551 transits of Mercury and Venus are separated by 14 hours.
See also
- Astronomical transitAstronomical transitThe term transit or astronomical transit has three meanings in astronomy:* A transit is the astronomical event that occurs when one celestial body appears to move across the face of another celestial body, hiding a small part of it, as seen by an observer at some particular vantage point...
- Transit of Phobos from MarsTransit of Phobos from MarsA transit of Phobos across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when Phobos passes directly between the Sun and a point on the surface of Mars, obscuring a large part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars. During a transit, Phobos can be seen from Mars as a large black disc rapidly moving...
- Transit of Deimos from MarsTransit of Deimos from MarsA transit of Deimos across the Sun as seen from Mars takes place when Deimos passes directly between the Sun and a point on the surface of Mars, obscuring a small part of the Sun's disc for an observer on Mars...