Mercury passing between sun and Earth

Mercury will pass between the sun and Earth today, but the rare event may be blocked by Southwestern Pennsylvania’s cloudy skies.

Mingo Observatory live-streamed the event, according to the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh’s Facebook page. A planned event at Nicholas E. Wagman Observatory in Deer Lakes Regional Park was canceled because of the clouds.

The Angelo J. Taiani Planetarium at Saint Vincent College in Unity had an event planned for 3-4 p.m. Monday, weather permitting, to view the transit.

Thanks to the internet, a live video of the event was being broadcast.

Images of the event were posted by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Mercury is the planet closest to the sun and a tiny black dot could be seen in the video and photos passing between Earth and the sun.

The event can be seen in the eastern United States and Canada, and all of Central and South America. Other parts of North America, Europe and Africa will be able to see part of the action, according to the Associated Press. It can be seen through telescopes and binoculars with special filters to protect eyes from the sunlight.

The event was set to wrap up at about 1 p.m. EST.