As astronomical events go, Mercury’s solar transit was not as spectacular as say, a

solar eclipse, but many observers on this sunny Boston day enjoyed the view of a
relatively rare event last seen nearly 10 years ago. Some were getting their first-
ever glimpse of the innermost planet. As seen through my telescope with a solar-
safe filter, Mercury appeared to be little more than a diminutive dot as it drifted
across the solar face, which is nearly 160 times its apparent diameter. The
innermost planet is only 3,002 miles across, while the sun spans nearly 865,000
miles. The math doesn’t add up because Mercury is closer to the Earth than it is to
the Sun.

The transit, viewable from most places in the world, began as a small indentation
on the left edge of the solar disk at 7:12 a.m. Eastern time. A few minutes later,
the entire disk was visible against the Sun’s face. Over the next several hours,
the planet moved steadily across the lower third of the sun before disappearing
entirely off the right edge by 2:42 pm. Because the telescope’s solar filter blocks
out all but 1/1000 of 1 percent of the light, Mercury was invisible before and
after appearing on the sun’s face.