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Planet Mercury passes across the face of the Sun

Mercury has made a rare transit, passing across the face of the Sun as seen from Earth. During the transit, Mercury appeared as a dark silhouetted disc against the bright surface of our star.

There are 14 transits in this century; the last was in 2016, but the next event will not occur until 2032.

The transit began at 12:35 GMT, when the edge of Mercury appeared to touch the curvature of the Sun. It ended at 18:04 GMT when the edge of the silhouetted planet appeared to leave the Sun's disc.

Professor Mike Cruise, president of the UK's Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), said: "This is a rare event, and we'll have to wait 13 years until it happens again. Transits are a visible demonstration of how the planets move around the Sun."

The entire event was visible from the eastern US and Canada, the south-western tip of Greenland, most of the Caribbean, Central America, the whole of South America and some of West Africa.