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eclipse/transit

Last post 10-05-2006 7:37 AM by Terry Kucera. 1 replies.
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  • 10-04-2006 10:37 AM

    eclipse/transit

    Kevin H (dia)

     

    Has an eclipse, or "transit" of both the planet venus and mercury ever occured at the same time in front of the sun, that is two at one time?

     

     

  • 10-05-2006 7:37 AM In reply to

    • Terry Kucera
    • Top 10 Contributor
    • Joined on 02-27-2005
    • NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, USA
    • Posts 165

    Re: eclipse/transit

    Hi Kevin.
    Transits of Venus are very rare - only about 6 hours twice every 113 years. Transits of Mercury are more common, but still only a few hours every few years. That would make it very, very  unlikely that they would ever over lap, and I don't think we will ever see such a thing during our lives.

    One the other hand, the Earth, Venus, and Mercury have been around for around 5 billion years, which is a very, very long time, so it is possible that at some point during that time it has happened. Maybe someone good at calculating orbits could figure it out.

    Terry
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