Mercury transit – seen from Hamburg

On May 9, 2016, there was a Mercury transit. Mercury runs every 116 days between Earth and Sun. However, the innermost planet of our solar system only runs so close to the Earth-Sun connection every few years that it stands in front of the sun as a small black disk. The transit from May 9, 2016 was globally seen from 1:10 pm to 8:44 pm CEST (= 11:10 am to 6:44 pm UTC). To see Mercury as a small point in front of the sun it was necessary to attach a foil in front of the lens like the foil of eclipse glasses. These pictures were made possible with a standard camera with a focal length of max. 2,000 mm, by which not only the Mercury, but also sunspots were to be recognized. The indicated times correspond to the CEST.