Mercury travels behind the Sun

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SOHO/LASCO C3 [video]

SOL24.NET

 

The Planets Today : A live view of the solar system

WWW.THEPLANETSTODAY.COM

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The planets today shows you where the planets are now as a live display - a free online orrery. In this solar system map you can see the planetary positions from 3000 BCE to 3000 CE, and also see when each...

 

The C3 camera on the satellite is firmly fixed on the stationary/central Sun while the satellite itself tracks with the Earth around the Sun.

 

Easy to interpret the motions of the faster-moving Mercury in a smaller circuit closer to the Sun as seen from a slower-moving Earth. The position of the stars change from left to right and parallel to the orbital plane because the Earth is moving. While Mercury presently shows its bright hemisphere to use as it travels behind the Sun, it will return in a number of weeks moving in the opposite direction and greatly diminished in brightness as it largely shows its dark hemisphere to us.

 

There is also comet Erasmus moving away from the solar system.