Mercury transits the Sun in rare cosmic event - in pictures

The next instance the Solar System's smallest planet will pass between the Sun and Earth is in 2032

This still image from video issued by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows Mercury as it passes between Earth and the sun. The solar system's smallest, innermost planet resembles a tiny black dot during the transit. AP

This photo shows planet Mercury passing in front of the sun taken from Hede-Bazouges, western France. The next alignment Earth - Mercury - Sun will take place on 2032. AFP

Viewers look on during a brief break in the clouds to see a transit of the planet Mercury. AP Photo

A handout photo made available by NASA, showing the the planet Mercury seen in silhouette, centre, as it transits across the face of the Sun, behind the Washington Monument. Mercury's last transit was in 2016. The next transit will not happen again until 2032. EPA

A picture taken in Kuwait's capital Kuwaiti City shows the planet Mercury, to centre transiting in front of the sun. AFP

The planet Mercury looks like a tiny dot as it transits across the face of the Sun as seen from Kekesteto, Hungary' highest mountain peak. EPA

View of the transit of the planet Mercury, which is observed tiny (black dot above), in front of the Sun, from the Lunaria planetarium in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico. EPA

The National

Mercury drifted across the face of the Sun on Monday in a rare cosmic event.

Stargazers used solar-filtered binoculars and telescopes to view Mercury — a tiny black dot — as it passed between Earth and the Sun on Monday.

Mercury is the Solar System's smallest, innermost planet. The next transit will be in 2032.

Updated: November 12, 2019, 3:13 PM