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HERRIMAN — Students at Herriman High School got a peek of perspective with a look at Mercury during its leisurely transit across Earth's view of the sun Monday.
"The students are kind of surprised by how small it looks compared to the sun," said physics and astronomy teacher Matthew Lund. "A couple of students asked how many Murcurys would fit in the sun, and we calculated it at like 23.2 billion."
The solar system's smallest planet was visible as a tiny dot making its way across the sun from about 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Lund said.
Mercury's transit happens only 13 times in a century, the last event taking place in 2006, according to NASA.
Students in the class used two 8-inch telescopes and a 4 ½-inch telescope, which were filtered to block the rays of the sun. Students also saw two sunspots during the observation.
"It was a great way to kind of wrap it up," Lund said of his physics and astronomy classes. "It's just a nice addition to stuff we don't normally get to talk about in physics.
"It's a pretty rare chance. They lucked out that it was today," he said.
