Watch Mercury make a rare transit across the sun on Monday

Mercury's transit across the sun.
(Image credit: YouTube.com/ScienceAtNASA)

Starting at 7 a.m. ET Monday morning, Mercury will be visible as a small, dark circle going across the sun.

Mercury passing in front of the sun happens just 13 times a century — the last time was in 2006 — and the event will last in the United States for at least seven hours. NASA says it will be visible in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and large parts of Asia, and has a warning — in order to see Mercury, don't stare at the sun, but instead use a "telescope or high-powered binoculars fitted with solar filters made of specially-coated glass or Mylar."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.