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Transit of Mercury from Mars

2025-10-02T18:44:18Z

2A02:A45E:B226:0:DD67:3647:8C29:7526: /* See also */ Transits of Mercury as seen from Mars added

{{Short description|Movement of Mercury seen from Mars}}
[[File:PIA18389-MarsCuriosityRover-MercuryTransitsSun-20140603.gif|thumb|300px|right|[[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] transiting the [[Sun]] as viewed by the [[Mars]] rover [[Curiosity (rover)|''Curiosity'']] (June 3, 2014).<ref name="NASA-20140610">{{cite web |last=Webster |first=Guy |title=Mercury Passes in Front of the Sun, as Seen From Mars |url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-183 |date=June 10, 2014 |work=[[NASA]] |access-date=June 10, 2014 }}</ref>]]
[[file:Mercury transit symbol.svg|frameless|right|upright=0.5]]
A '''[[astronomical transit|transit]] of Mercury across the Sun as seen from Mars''' takes place when the planet [[Mercury (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 roughly twice as common as [[transit of Mercury|transits of Mercury from Earth]]: there are several per decade.

==Transit==
The Mars rovers ''[[MER-A|Spirit]]'' and ''[[MER-B|Opportunity]]'' could have observed the transit of January 12, 2005 (from 14:45 [[UTC]] to 23:05 UTC); however the only camera available for this had insufficient resolution. They were able to observe [[transit of Deimos from Mars|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 [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.html JPL Horizons] indicates that ''Opportunity'' would have been able to observe the transit from the start until local sunset at about 19:23 UTC, while ''Spirit'' could have observed it from local sunrise at about 19:38 UTC until the end of the transit. The rover [[Curiosity (rover)|Curiosity]] observed the Mercury transit of June 3, 2014, marking the first time any planetary transit has been observed from a celestial body besides Earth.<ref name="NASA-20140610" />

{{clear}}
'''March 5, 2024:''' NASA released images of transits of the moon [[Deimos (moon)|Deimos]], the moon [[Phobos (moon)|Phobos]] and the planet Mercury as viewed by the [[Perseverance (rover)|''Perseverance'' rover]] on the planet Mars.<ref>{{cite news |title=Perseverance Views a Transit of Mercury |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26250-perseverance-views-a-transit-of-mercury |access-date=20 April 2024}}</ref>
{{multiple images |header=Transits viewed from Mars by the ''Perseverance'' rover |direction=horizontal |align=center |width= |image1=PIA26249-MarsPerseveranceRover-TransitDeimos-Video-20240119.webm |caption1=Transit of [[Deimos (moon)|Deimos]]<br />(January 19, 2024) |width1=200 |image2=PIA26248-MarsPerseveranceRover-TransitPhobos-Video-20240208.webm |caption2=Transit of Phobos<br />(February 8, 2024) |width2=200 |image3=PIA26250-MarsPerseveranceRover-TransitMercury-GIF-20231028.gif| |caption3=Transit of [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]]<br />(October 28, 2023) |width3=135 |footer }}

{{clear}}

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.



===Transits 2000–2100===
{{div col|colwidth=12em}}
* December 18, 2003
* January 12, 2005
* November 23, 2005
* May 10, 2013
* June 3, 2014
* April 15, 2015
* October 28, 2023
* September 5, 2024
* January 26, 2034
* February 21, 2035
* July 13, 2044
* May 24, 2045
* November 8, 2052
* December 3, 2053
* October 14, 2054
* April 25, 2063
* March 6, 2064
* July 27, 2073
* August 22, 2074
* December 17, 2082
* January 12, 2084
* November 22, 2084
* May 9, 2092
* June 3, 2093
* April 14, 2094
{{div col end}}

==Simultaneous transits==
The simultaneous occurrence of a transit of Mercury and a transit of Venus is extremely rare, but somewhat more frequent than from Earth, and will next occur in the years [[List of future astronomical events|{{formatnum:18713}}]], [[List of future astronomical events|{{formatnum:19536}}]] and [[List of future astronomical events|{{formatnum:20029}}]].<br />
On several occasions a related event is predicted: a transit of Mercury and a transit of Venus, or [[Transit of Earth from Mars|transit of Earth]], will follow themselves, one after the other, in an interval of only several hours.

On November 28, 3867, there will be a transit of Earth and Moon, and two days later there will be a transit of Mercury.
On January 16, 18551, transits of Mercury and Venus will occur 14 hours apart.

==See also==
* [[Astronomical transit]]
* [[Transit of Deimos from Mars]]
* [[Transit of Phobos from Mars]]
* [[Transit of Mercury from Earth]]
* [https://groups.io/g/TransitsofMercury/message/11 Transits of Mercury as seen from Mars]
* [https://groups.io/g/TransitsofMercury/message/10 Transits of Venus as seen from Mars]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* [[Albert Marth]], ''Note on the Transit of the Earth and Moon across the Sun’s Disk as seen from Mars on November 12, 1879, and on some kindred Phenomena'', [[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]], '''39''' (1879), 513–514. [http://adsbit.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1879MNRAS..39..513M]
* [[Giorgini, J.D.]], [[Yeomans, D.K.]], [[Chamberlin, A.B.]], [[Chodas, P.W.]], [[Jacobson, R.A.]], [[Keesey, M.S.]], [[Lieske, J.H.]], [[Ostro, S.J.]], [[Standish, E.M.]], [[Wimberly, R.N.]], "JPL's On-Line Solar System Data Service", ''Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society'' '''28'''(3), 1158, 1996.

==External links==
* [http://transit.savage-garden.org/sspt.html?inferior=1&superior=4 Transits of Mercury on Mars - Fifteen millennium catalog: 5 000 BC - 10 000 AD]
* [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?horizons JPL Horizons]

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{{Mercury (planet)}}
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[[Category:Transit of Mercury]]
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Transit of Earth from Mars

2025-10-02T18:43:01Z

2A02:A45E:B226:0:DD67:3647:8C29:7526: /* See also */ Transits of Mercury as seen from Mars added.

{{Short description|Event when Earth transits the Sun from Mars}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=July 2012}}
[[File:Earth and Moon Transit from Mars 2084.jpg|thumb|Earth and Moon transiting the Sun in 2084, as seen from Mars. Image created using [[SpaceEngine]]]]
[[File:Earth and Moon from Mars PIA04531.jpg|thumb|Earth and Moon from Mars, as photographed by the [[Mars Global Surveyor]]]]
[[file:Earth transit symbol.svg|frameless|upright=0.5|right]]
A [[astronomical transit|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 would be visible from Mars as a small black disc moving across the face of the Sun. They occur every 26, 79 and 100 years, and every ~1,000 years, there is an extra 53rd-year transit.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

==Conjunctions==
Transits of Earth from Mars usually occur in pairs, with one following the other after 79 years; rarely, there are three in the series. The transits also follow a 284-year cycle, occurring at intervals of 100.5, 79, 25.5, and 79 years; a transit falling on a particular date is usually followed by another transit 284 years later. Transits occurring when Mars is at its [[ascending node]] take place in May, those at [[descending node]] happen in November. This cycle corresponds fairly closely to 151 Mars orbits, 284 Earth orbits, and 133 [[synodic period]]s, and is analogous to the cycle of [[transit of Venus|transits of Venus from Earth]], which follow a cycle of 243 years (121.5, 8, 105.5, 8). There are currently four such active series, containing from 8 to 25 transits. A new one is set to begin in 2394. The last series ending was in 1211.

==View from Mars==
No one has ever seen a transit of Earth from Mars, but the next transit will take place on November 10, 2084.<ref name="Mars2084"/> The last such transit took place on May 11, 1984.<ref name="Earth1984"/>

During the event, the [[Moon]] can almost always also be seen in transit, although due to the distance between Earth and Moon, sometimes one body completes the transit before the other begins (this last occurred in the 1800 transit, and will happen again in 2394).

==View from Earth==
A transit of Earth from Mars corresponds to Mars being perfectly uniformly illuminated at [[astronomical opposition|opposition]] from Earth, its phase being 180.0° without any [[defect of illumination]]. During the 1879 event, this permitted [[Charles Augustus Young]] to attempt a careful measurement of the [[oblateness]] (polar compression) of Mars. He obtained the value 1/219, or 0.0046. This is close to the modern value of 1/154 (many sources will cite somewhat different values, such as 1/193, because even a difference of only a couple of kilometers in the values of Mars's polar and equatorial radii gives a considerably different result).

Much more recently, better measurements of the oblateness of Mars have been made by using [[radar]] from the Earth. Also, better measurements have been made by using artificial satellites that have been put into orbit around Mars, including ''[[Mariner 9]]'', ''[[Viking 1]]'', ''[[Viking 2]]'', and Soviet orbiters, and the more recent orbiters that have been sent from the Earth to Mars.

==In science fiction==
A [[science fiction]] short story published in 1971 by [[Arthur C. Clarke]], called "Transit of Earth", depicts a doomed astronaut on Mars observing the transit in 1984. This short story was first published in the January 1971 issue of ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csxT8Y9MaSs 'Transit Of Earth' by Arthur C. Clarke read by himself], 16 October 2017.</ref>

==Dates of transits==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Transits of Earth from Mars (grouped by series)
|-
| November 10, 1595 || May 5, 1621 || May 8, 1700 || November 9, 1800 ||
|-
| November 12, 1879 || May 8, 1905 || May 11, 1984<ref name="Earth1984" /> || November 10, 2084 ||
|-
| November 15, 2163 || May 10, 2189 || May 13, 2268 || November 13, 2368 || May 10, 2394
|-
| November 17, 2447 || May 13, 2473 || May 16, 2552 || November 15, 2652 || May 13, 2678
|}

==Grazing and simultaneous transits==
Sometimes Earth only grazes the Sun during a transit. In this case it is possible that in some areas of Mars a full transit can be seen while in other regions there is only a partial transit (no second or third contact). The last transit of this type was on 30 April 1211, and the next such transit will occur on 27 November 4356. It is also possible that a transit of Earth can be seen in some parts of Mars as a partial transit, while in others Earth misses the Sun. Such a transit last occurred on 26 October 664, and the next transit of this type will occur on 14 December 5934.

The simultaneous occurrence of a transit of Venus and a transit of Earth is extremely rare, and will next occur in the year [[List of future astronomical events#After 10,000 AD|571,741]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Simultaneous transits|author1=Meeus, J.|author2=Vitagliano, A.|journal=Journal of the British Astronomical Association|date=2004 |volume=114|number=3|pages=132–135|bibcode=2004JBAA..114..132M |url=https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2004JBAA..114..132M}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Astronomical transit]]
* [[Transit of Phobos from Mars]]
* [[Transit of Deimos from Mars]]
* [[Transit of Mercury from Mars]]
* [https://groups.io/g/TransitsofMercury/message/11 Transits of Mercury as seen from Mars]
* [https://groups.io/g/TransitsofMercury/message/10 Transits of Venus as seen from Mars]

== References ==
{{reflist
| refs =
<ref name="Earth1984">{{cite web
|date = 11 May 1984
|title = Transit of the Sun by Earth from the center of Mars
|publisher = space.jpl.nasa.gov
|url = http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=399&vbody=499&month=5&day=11&year=1984&hour=04&minute=30&fovmul=1&rfov=0.5&bfov=30&porbs=1
|archive-url = https://archive.today/20121212085757/http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=399&vbody=499&month=5&day=11&year=1984&hour=04&minute=30&fovmul=1&rfov=0.5&bfov=30&porbs=1
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = 12 December 2012
|access-date = 2008-06-06}} [http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=399&vbody=499&month=5&day=11&year=1984&hour=13&minute=00&fovmul=1&rfov=0.5&bfov=30&porbs=1 (end of transit)]</ref>

<ref name="Mars2084">{{cite web
|date=June 5, 2012
|title=The Transit of Earth from Mars, November 10, 2084
|publisher=Astroblog
|author=Ian Musgrave
|url=https://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2012/06/transit-of-earth-from-mars-november-10.html
|access-date=2012-06-16}}</ref>

}}

* [[Albert Marth]], ''Note on the Transit of the Earth and Moon across the Sun’s Disk as seen from Mars on November 12, 1879, and on some kindred Phenomena'', [[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]], '''39''' (1879), 513–514. [http://adsbit.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1879MNRAS..39..513M]
* [[Andrew Crommelin]], ''Observations of Mars, 1904–6'', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, '''64''' (1904), 520–521 [http://adsbit.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1904MNRAS..64..506.&db_key=AST&page_ind=14&plate_select=NO&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_GIF]
* [[Jean Meeus]] & [[Edwin Goffin]], ''Transits of Earth as Seen from Mars'', Journal of the British Astronomical Association, '''93''' (1983), 120–123 [http://adsbit.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1983JBAA...93..120M]
* [[Charles Augustus Young]], ''Measures of the Polar and Equatoreal Diameters of Mars, made at Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.'', The Observatory, '''3''' (1880), 471 [http://adsbit.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?journal=Obs&year=1880&volume=3&page_ind=420&letter=.&type=SCREEN_GIF]
* {{cite book |author=Meeus, Jean |title=Transits|publisher=Willmann-Bell |location=Richmond, VA |year=1989 | isbn = 0-943396-25-5 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080301111520/http://chemistry.unina.it/~alvitagl/solex/ SOLEX]

==External links==
* [http://transit.savage-garden.org/sspt.html?inferior=3&superior=4 Transits of Earth on Mars – Fifteen millennium catalog: 5 000 BC – 10 000 AD]
* [http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?horizons JPL HORIZONS System]
* [http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=399&vbody=499&month=11&day=7&year=2005&hour=10&minute=00&fovmul=1&rfov=1&bfov=30&porbs=1 Near miss of the Earth-moon system] (2005-11-07)

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[[Category:Earth]]
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