Transit of Mercury (2032)
Mercury crosses the solar disk for the first time since 2019; the next chance is 2039.
📍 Visible from where you are right now — computed in your browser
bearing · altitude · rise time · best time tonight
The moment of Transit of Mercury (2032): https://nowsky.org/e/mercury-transit-2032 — opens at the right place and time, replayable, no login.
Available views: Orbit ✓ · Sky — (not visible in the sky)
The story
On 13 November 2032 Mercury crosses the face of the Sun — the first transit of Mercury since 11 November 2019, thirteen years earlier. Europe, Africa and western Asia are expected to see the whole event, while eastern Asia sees only the first half before sunset. The transit lasts about five hours.
Mercury's silhouette is a two-hundredth of the Sun's diameter, so a telescope with a solar filter is essential — eclipse glasses alone will not show the dot. Two safe methods: view directly through a telescope with a certified front-mounted solar filter, or project the Sun's image from the eyepiece onto white card.
Small as it is, a planet crossing a star is the prototype of the method that has found thousands of exoplanets. The Kepler and TESS space telescopes detect planets by measuring a distant star dimming by 0.01 percent, and a transit of Mercury is a chance to see that principle with your own eyes inside the solar system.
Transits of Mercury happen thirteen or fourteen times a century and only in May and November, because Mercury's orbital nodes fall in those months. The next is 7 November 2039. Move the orbit view to 13 November 2032 to reproduce the Sun–Mercury–Earth alignment.
Why it matters
Transits of Mercury have been a test bed for astronomical measurement since the seventeenth century. In 1631 Gassendi observed the first, as Kepler had predicted, confirming Keplerian orbits; timing transits in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries refined Mercury's orbit until the anomaly in its perihelion precession emerged — the first evidence for general relativity.
Today they serve as calibration for exoplanet transits. The "black drop" effect where Mercury touches the Sun's limb and the darkening of the solar edge appear with the same physics in exoplanet transit light curves.
With no transit of Venus until 2117, transits of Mercury are the only planetary transits visible in the solar system. The two of 2032 and 2039 are the remaining chances for this generation of observers.
How to watch
Move the orbit view to 13 November 2032, follow Earth and set the Sun as the gaze target, and Mercury sits exactly between them; slow the playback to see how the five-hour transit plays out along the orbits.
Select Mercury in the sky view for when it is visible from your location and its bearing. Move the time to 13 November 2032 and Mercury is drawn over the solar disk — a European city shows the whole transit, Seoul the first half until sunset.
The previous transit of 11 November 2019 can be replayed by moving the time in the sky view, and so can the next on 7 November 2039; the three paths across the solar disk can be compared.
See this for yourself — replay the moment in the orbit view
Background
The transit of 11 November 2019 was visible from the Americas, Europe and Africa but not from Korea, where it was night; the same was true of 9 May 2016. The 2032 transit begins in the late afternoon for Korea, with the first half visible before sunset.
During a transit Mercury's apparent diameter is about 10 arcseconds, a two-hundredth of the Sun's (about 1,940). Unlike Venus (about 58 arcseconds), which was visible through a filter to the naked eye, Mercury always needs magnification.
The November 2032 transit belongs to the same 13-year series as 2019, with 7 November 2039 next. The remaining transits of the century continue with 7 May 2049 and 9 November 2052.
Observing a transit of Mercury carries an old trap: confusion with sunspots. Mercury’s dot is similar in size to a spot, but unlike a spot it has a sharp edge, is completely black and moves visibly within minutes. November 2032 is predicted to fall near solar minimum with few spots, so there is little room for confusion. The black-drop effect where Mercury meets the Sun’s limb is visible even in small telescopes, and for observers timing the contacts it is the main source of error.
FAQ
Is it visible from Korea?
Only the first half, from late afternoon until sunset; Europe and Africa see the whole event.
Can it be seen with eclipse glasses?
No. Mercury is a two-hundredth of the Sun's diameter and needs a telescope with a solar filter.
How long does it last?
About five hours.
When is the next transit of Mercury?
7 November 2039; transits of Mercury occur only in May and November.
Related
- Transit of Venus — last this century
- BepiColombo launch — to Mercury
- Total lunar eclipse (2032)
- Mercury — object index
- The Sun — object index
Times and figures are approximate — verify with official sources when planning travel. Simulation uses J2000 mean elements.