Explanation:
Mercury is now visible shortly before dawn, the
brightest "star" just above the eastern horizon.
But almost
two weeks ago Mercury actually crossed
the face of the Sun for the second time in the 21st century.
Viewed with
red/blue
glasses, this stereo anaglyph combines
space-based images of the Sun and innermost planet in a
just-for-fun 3D
presentation of the
Mercury transit.
The solar disk image is from
Hinode.
(sounds like "ee-no-day", means sunrise).
A sun-staring observatory, Hinode was launched from Uchinoura Space Center
and viewed
the transit from Earth orbit.
Superimposed on Mercury's dark silhouette is
a detailed image
of the planet's rugged surface based on data from the
Mariner 10
probe that flew by Mercury in 1974 and 1975.
