A transit of Mercury across the Sun occurs when the planet Mercury passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a transit, Mercury appears as a tiny black dot moving across the disk of the Sun. Transits of Mercury are much more frequent than transits of Venus, with about 13 or 14 per century, in part because Mercury is closer to the Sun and orbits it more rapidly. Transits of Mercury occur in May or November. The last four transits occurred on November 15, 1999; May 7, 2003; November 8, 2006; and May 9, 2016. The next will occur this Monday on November 11, 2019, and then on November 13, 2032. A typical transit lasts several hours. The final stages of the transit will not be observed from the Maltese Islands, as these will take place after sunset. The stages of the transit viewed from the Maltese Islands are seen below:

Partial Transit Begins: 13:35

Full Transit Begins: 13:37

Nearest Sun’s Centre: 16:19

Sunset: 16:56

 

The weather will, unfortunately, not be favourable to observe the transit. We expect cloudy skies with periods of heavy rain and strong to very strong winds.

 

Transitu ta’ Merkurju quddiem ix-xemx iseħħ meta l-pjaneta Merkurju tgħaddi direttament bejn ix-xemx u d-dinja. B’hekk, din tkun viżibbli bħala dell fuq wiċċ ix-xemx. Tul it-transitu, l-pjaneta Merkurju tkun viżibbli bħala tikka żgħira sewda għaddejja minn fuq ix-xemx. Transiti ta’ Merkurju huma ferm iżjed kommuni minn dawk ta’ Venere, bi 13 jew 14 minnhom f’kull 100 sena. Dan minħabba li Merkurju hija eqreb lejn ix-xemx u l-orbitu tagħha huwa ferm aktar mgħaġġel. Transiti ta’ Merkurju jseħħu f’Mejju jew Novembru libido-de.com/. L-aħħar erbgħa transiti seħħew nhar il-15 ta’ Novembru 1999, 7 ta’ Mejju 2003, 8 ta’ Novembru 2006 u 9 ta’ Mejju 2016. Li jmiss se jkun nhar it-Tnejn 11 ta’ Novembru 2019. Ta’ warajh iseħħ fit-13 ta’ Novembru 2032. Transitu tipikament idum xi ftit siegħat. L-aħħar stadji ta’ dan it-transitu mhux se jkunu jidhru mill-Gżejjer Maltin, minħabba li dawn se jseħħu wara nżul ix-xemx. L-istadji ta’ dan it-transitu se jseħħu kif indikat hawn:

Jibda t-Transitu Parzjali: 13:35

Jibda t-Transitu Sħiħ: 13:37

Merkurju l-Eqreb lejn iċ-Ċentru tax-Xemx: 16:19

Inżul ix-Xemx: 16:56

 

Sfortunatament, it-temp mhux se jippermetti li nosservaw dan l-avveniment ċelestjali bi sħiħ. Qed nistennew sema msaħħab b’perjodi ta’ xita qawwija u riħ qawwi għal qawwi ħafna.