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
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    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/