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11–12 November 2019 Mercury Transit

This Mercury transit was visible for several hours in most of the world, including North and South America, Africa, and Europe.

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Was this transit visible in Hong Kong?

2019 Mercury Transit Animation

This is how the 2019 Mercury Transit looked close to the center of the area where it was visible. Note: The location was in the Southern Hemisphere. The transit path can vary depending on your location. The curvature of the planet's path is due to the Earth's rotation.

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Where the Transit Was Seen

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Because Mercury is so small and far away from Earth, you need a telescope or binoculars with a proper Sun filter to see it.

Where the 2019 Mercury Transit Was Seen

Regions seeing at least some parts of the transit: Europe, West in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica.

Expand for some cities that could see at least part of the full transit

Was this transit visible in Hong Kong?

Who Could See the Transit

Shades of darkness

Night

Astronomical Twilight (Sun was 12 - 18 degrees below the horizon)

Nautical Twilight (Sun was 6 - 12 degrees below the horizon)

Civil Twilight (Sun was 0 - 6 degrees below the horizon)

Day

Entire transit visible

Parts of transit visible (Sun rose or set during transit)

Transit not visible

When the 2019 Mercury Transit Happened Worldwide — Timeline

This Mercury transit lasted around five and a half hours in total. The May 2016 transit lasted about seven and a half hours. In May 2095, there will be another one almost as long.

This Mercury transit was the last one for 13 years. The next one is on November 12—13, 2032.

Planet transits are normally visible from all locations where the Sun is up. However, because of different viewing angles, the start and end times can vary by a few minutes. The times below are actual times (in UTC) when the transit is visible.

Eclipse Stages WorldwideUTC TimeLocal Time in Hong Kong*
First location that saw the partial transit begin11 Nov, 12:34:4011 Nov, 20:34:40
Geocentric** partial transit began (ingress, exterior contact)11 Nov, 12:35:2211 Nov, 20:35:22
First location that saw the full transit begin11 Nov, 12:36:2211 Nov, 20:36:22
Geocentric** full transit began (ingress, interior contact)11 Nov, 12:37:0411 Nov, 20:37:04
Mercury was closest to the Sun's center11 Nov, 15:19:4811 Nov, 23:19:48
Geocentric** full transit ended (egress, interior contact)11 Nov, 18:02:3812 Nov, 02:02:38
Last location that saw full transit end11 Nov, 18:03:2012 Nov, 02:03:20
Geocentric** transit ended (egress, exterior contact)11 Nov, 18:04:1912 Nov, 02:04:19
Last location that saw partial transit end11 Nov, 18:05:0112 Nov, 02:05:01

* These local times do not refer to a specific location but indicate the beginning, peak, and end of the eclipse on a global scale, each line referring to a different location. This transit isn't visible in Hong Kong.

** The geocentric times refer to a theoretical situation where the transit is viewed from the Earth's center. They are used to provide an approximately average time schedule for astronomical events. Because of varying perspectives, observers on the Earth's surface will experience the transit at slightly different times depending on their location.

Geocentric duration of this Mercury Transit is 5 hours, 28 minutes, 57 seconds.

Transits and eclipses visible in Hong Kong

Previous Mercury Transit was on 9 May 2016.

Next Mercury Transit will be on 13 Nov 2032

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds