This Transit of Mercury was visible for at least several hours in most of the world, including the US, Canada, Europe, South America, Africa, and most of Asia.
The Transit was not visible to the naked eye – you needed specialized viewing equipment to see it. Never look directly at the Sun without proper eye protection. You can seriously hurt your eyes and even go blind.
Was this transit visible in Tokyo?
Where the Transit Was Seen
Try our new interactive eclipse maps. Zoom in and search for accurate eclipse times and visualizations for any location.
Mercury's path in front of the Sun is almost a horizontal line. However, throughout the day, the angle from which we observe the Sun from Earth, makes it look like it passes in a curve (see animation). Exactly how it looks, varies according to your location on Earth.
Where the 2016 Mercury Transit Was Seen
Regions seeing at least some parts of the transit: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica.
Was this transit visible in Tokyo?
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 2016 Mercury Transit Happened Worldwide — Timeline
It is the longest Transit of Mercury transit this century lasting about seven and a half hours. The last one which was longer was in May 1970. In May 2095, there will be another almost as long.
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 Worldwide | UTC Time | Local Time in Tokyo* |
|---|---|---|
| First location that saw the partial transit begin | 5月9日 (月)11時10分18秒 | 5月9日 (月)20時10分18秒 |
| Geocentric** partial transit began (ingress, exterior contact) | 5月9日 (月)11時12分10秒 | 5月9日 (月)20時12分10秒 |
| First location that saw the full transit begin | 5月9日 (月)11時13分30秒 | 5月9日 (月)20時13分30秒 |
| Geocentric** full transit began (ingress, interior contact) | 5月9日 (月)11時15分22秒 | 5月9日 (月)20時15分22秒 |
| Mercury was closest to the Sun's center | 5月9日 (月)14時57分25秒 | 5月9日 (月)23時57分25秒 |
| Geocentric** full transit ended (egress, interior contact) | 5月9日 (月)18時39分20秒 | 5月10日 (火)3時39分20秒 |
| Last location that saw full transit end | 5月9日 (月)18時41分13秒 | 5月10日 (火)3時41分13秒 |
| Geocentric** transit ended (egress, exterior contact) | 5月9日 (月)18時42分32秒 | 5月10日 (火)3時42分32秒 |
| Last location that saw partial transit end | 5月9日 (月)18時44分24秒 | 5月10日 (火)3時44分24秒 |
* 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 Tokyo.
** 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 7 hours, 30 minutes, 22 seconds.
Transits and eclipses visible in Tokyo
Previous Venus Transit was on 6月5日 (火) – 2012年6月6日 (水).