Satellites to see Mercury enter spotlight on May 9

It happens only a little more than once a decade and the next chance to see it is Monday, May 9, 2016. Throughout the U.S., sky watchers can watch Mercury pass between Earth and the sun in a rare astronomical event known as a planetary transit. Mercury will appear as a tiny black dot as it glides in front of the sun s blazing disk over a period of seven and a half hours. Three NASA satellites will be providing images of the transit and one of them will have a near-live feed.