Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2019 November 14 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Mercury and the Quiet Sun Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]John Chumack Explanation: [5]On November 11, 2019 the Sun was mostly quiet, experiencing a minimum in its [6]11 year cycle of activity. In fact, the only spot visible was actually planet Mercury, making a leisurely 5 1/2 hour transit in front of the calm solar disk. About 1/200th the apparent diameter of the Sun, the silhouette of the solar system's inner most planet is near center in this sharp, full Sun snapshot. Taken with a hydrogen alpha filter and safe solar telescope, the image also captures [7]prominences around the solar limb, the glowing plasma trapped in arcing magnetic fields. Of course, only inner planets Mercury [8]and Venus can transit the Sun to appear in silhouette when viewed from planet Earth. [9]Following its transit in 2016, this was Mercury's 4th of 14 transits across the solar disk [10]in the 21st century. The next transit of Mercury will be on November 13, 2032. Tomorrow's picture: star streams and galaxies __________________________________________________________________ [11]< | [12]Archive | [13]Submissions | [14]Index | [15]Search | [16]Calendar | [17]RSS | [18]Education | [19]About APOD | [20]Discuss | [21]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell ([25]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [26]Specific rights apply. [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC & [31]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1911/jC-L-TM_SunFinal5HRweb.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. http://www.galacticimages.com/catalog/about_us.php 5. https://earthsky.org/space/sdo-views-mercury-transit-nov-11-2019 6. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/solar-activity-forecast-for-next-decade-favorable-for-exploration 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180618.html 8. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/man-who-knew-venus-would-transit-sun-excerpt/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191110.html 10. https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/transit/catalog/MercuryCatalog.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191113.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=191114 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191115.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 29. https://www.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 31. http://www.mtu.edu/