Close-ups on the 2006 Mercury transit by Hinode (Solar-B)

The last Mercury transit across the Sun that took place in the night between 8 and 9 November 2006, and it was observed in great detail with the three telescope instruments on board the Hinode (Solar-B) satellite (a JAXA mission with ESA participation).

This spectacular sequence, taken by Hinode’s X-Ray Telescope (XRT), shows three phases of the Mercury transit across the background X-ray-corona of the Sun.