Transits of Venus are even rarer. The last one was in 2012 and the next won’t be until 2117.

Where and when can I watch it?

The entire show will take about five hours and 30 minutes. Those watching from the East Coast of the United States will be in luck. The entirety of the transit will be visible during daylight hours.

Viewers on the West Coast of the United States can catch part of the show after the sun rises. People living in South America, western Africa and western Europe will also see much of the event. Parts of Australia and southern and west Asia will also catch some of the trip.

According to timeanddate.com:

Mercury will make first contact with the sun at 7:35 a.m. Eastern time.

It will be closest to the sun’s center at 10:20 a.m. Eastern time.

At 1:04 p.m. Eastern time, the transit will end.

How can I watch the transit of Mercury?

Remember: Do not look at the sun directly, you will damage your eyes.

With proper solar filters, you can view the event through a telescope or binoculars. Check with the manufacturer of your viewing device to find out what the proper filters are.

You can also use binoculars or a telescope to project an image of Mercury as it skids across the sun. Space.com published a guide for making your own safe viewing device.

Weather conditions for some parts of the East Coast of the United States appeared to be mostly sunny during the morning, making for potentially favorable viewing of the transit.

If you don’t have your own equipment, contact your local science museum, planetarium or astronomical society, which may be hosting a live viewing party. The Amateur Astronomers Association of New York will be hosting public events in several locations around New York City. In Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Institution’s Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory will also have a public viewing.

If you can’t get to a place that is showing the transit, tune into a livestream using high-powered telescopes:

What is the scientific significance of a Mercury transit?

After Pierre Gassendi made his sighting in 1631, the astronomer Edmund Halley (whom Halley’s comet is named after) saw the Mercury transit in 1677 and formulated the idea that you could use transits of Mercury and Venus to calculate the distance from Earth to the sun, according to NASA.