June 4th 2014 the Mars rover Curiosity observed Mercury crossing the solar disk. This is the first time in history that a planet transit has been observed from a celestial object outside Earth.
by Anne Mette Sannes and Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard
Mercury crossing the solar disk on June 4th 2014, filmed from Curiosity.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Texas A&M
The Mars rovers observes more than transits of Mercury!
Also the Mars rover Opportunity has taken images of transits, and here you can see an animation of Mars’ largest moon Phobos crossing the solar disk. The image is made by images taken by Opportunity on the morning of the 45. day during its mission on Mars. (The event is equivalent to eclipses we experience here on Earth when we watch our own moon crossing the solar disk). The observation helps the scientists to improve our knowledge of Phobos’ orbit and position and will contribute to improve the capability of other space probes taking better images of this tiny moon.
Mercury crossing the solar disk on June 4th 2014, filmed from Curiosity (at Mars).
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Texas A&M
MORE INFORMATION
Main page about the Mercury transit