The year’s biggest celestial event will take place this afternoon when the planet Mercury transits across the sun for the first time in 13 years.
Aspiring astronomers can pop down to Tycho Brahe Planetarium for a view of the event through the provided solar telescopes between 1 and 9 pm.
“They used to use the Transit of Mercury to discover the size of the planet, its mass and orbit time around the sun,” Tina Ibsen, an astrophysicist from Tycho Brahe Planetarium, told DR Nyheder.
“Today it’s a fun phenomenon.”
Mercury, which is the smallest planet in the Solar System and also the closet planet to the Sun, first ‘made contact’ while passing across the sun at 1:12 and will be halfway across at 4:57. At 8:42 it will be clear of the sun.
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Be careful!
The outstanding weather today will help provide a clear view of the event, but it is important to protect your eyes when gazing up at the transit.
Sunglasses won’t be enough and neither will solar eclipse glasses, because of Mercury’s minuscule size compared to the sun.
Aside from Tycho Brahe Planetarium in Copenhagen, the Ole Rømer Observatory in Aarhus is another venue one can view the astronomical wonder.
Other venues include Brorfelde Observatorium in Tølløse, Zealand and Orion Planetarium in Rødding, Jutland.
