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You can watch Mercury pass between the sun and Earth Monday morning

The Montreal Planetarium is offering the public a free, online glimpse of the rare passage of Mercury. Prime viewing time is 9 to 11 a.m.

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Astronomy enthusiasts will be able to witness a rare event Monday morning — the transit of Mercury between the sun and the Earth — a phenomenon that will not recur until 2049.

Espace pour la vie, the agency that oversees the Rio Tinto Alcan Planétarium on Pierre-de-Coubertin St., is offering the public a free, online glimpse of Mercury’s passage, which will occur between 7:36 a.m. and 1:04 p.m.

Because of cloudy skies, the activity will be held indoors and the transit streamed online to viewers. Prime viewing time is from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.

Mercury is the planet closest to the sun in our solar system. It has a smaller orbit than that of the Earth, circling the sun in just 88 days, compared with the 365 days it takes the Earth to make the same trip. There have been a little over a dozen transits of Mercury over the past 100 years.

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