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November 15–16, 1999 Mercury Transit

Was this transit visible in Columbus?

1999 Mercury Transit Animation

This is how the 1999 Mercury Transit looked close to the center of the area where it was visible. Note: The location was in the Southern Hemisphere. The transit path can vary depending on your location. The curvature of the planet's path is due to the Earth's rotation.

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Where the Transit Was Seen

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Where the 1999 Mercury Transit Was Seen

Regions seeing at least some parts of the transit: Much of Asia, Australia, North America, Much of South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Antarctica.

Expand for some cities that could see at least part of the full transit
Expand for some cities that could only see partial phase

Was this transit visible in Columbus?

Who Could See the Transit

Shades of darkness

Night

Astronomical Twilight (Sun was 12 - 18 degrees below the horizon)

Nautical Twilight (Sun was 6 - 12 degrees below the horizon)

Civil Twilight (Sun was 0 - 6 degrees below the horizon)

Day

Entire transit visible

Parts of transit visible (Sun rose or set during transit)

Transit not visible

When the 1999 Mercury Transit Happened Worldwide — Timeline

Planet transits are normally visible from all locations where the Sun is up. However, because of different viewing angles, the start and end times can vary by a few minutes. The times below are actual times (in UTC) when the transit is visible.

Eclipse Stages WorldwideUTC TimeLocal Time in Columbus*
First location that saw the partial transit beginNov 15 at 21:10:31Nov 15 at 4:10:31 pm
Geocentric** partial transit began (ingress, exterior contact)Nov 15 at 21:14:31Nov 15 at 4:14:31 pm
First location that saw the full transit beginNov 15 at 21:21:32Nov 15 at 4:21:32 pm
Geocentric** full transit began (ingress, interior contact)Nov 15 at 21:28:38Nov 15 at 4:28:38 pm
Mercury was closest to the Sun's centerNov 15 at 21:40:53Nov 15 at 4:40:53 pm
Geocentric** full transit ended (egress, interior contact)Nov 15 at 21:53:09Nov 15 at 4:53:09 pm
Last location that saw full transit endNov 15 at 22:00:15Nov 15 at 5:00:15 pm
Geocentric** transit ended (egress, exterior contact)Nov 15 at 22:07:17Nov 15 at 5:07:17 pm
Last location that saw partial transit endNov 15 at 22:11:16Nov 15 at 5:11:16 pm

* These local times do not refer to a specific location but indicate the beginning, peak, and end of the eclipse on a global scale, each line referring to a different location. Please note that the local times for Columbus are meant as a guideline in case you want to view the transit via a live webcam. See the actual times the transit is visible in Columbus.

** The geocentric times refer to a theoretical situation where the transit is viewed from the Earth's center. They are used to provide an approximately average time schedule for astronomical events. Because of varying perspectives, observers on the Earth's surface will experience the transit at slightly different times depending on their location.

Geocentric duration of this Mercury Transit is 52 minutes, 46 seconds.

Transits and eclipses visible in Columbus

Previous Mercury Transit was on Nov 6, 1993.

Next Mercury Transit will be on May 7, 2003

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds