Mercury Transits the Sun
Credit & Copyright:
Thierry Legault
How big is the Sun?
The Sun
is not only larger than any planet,
it is larger than all of the
planets put together.
The Sun accounts for about 99.9 percent of all the mass in its
Solar System.
Merely stating the Sun's diameter is about 1,400,000
kilometers does not do it justice.
Last week a chance to gain visual size perspective
occurred when planet
Mercury made a rare crossing in front to Sun.
Mercury, a planet over a third of the diameter of our Earth, is the dark dot on the upper right.
In comparison to the Sun, Mercury is so small it is initially
hard to spot.
Also visible on the Sun are dark circular sunspots, bright plages, and dark elongated
prominences -- many of which are larger than Mercury.
The above contrast-enhanced picture was
captured last week from
France.