Mercury Transit Images (IMAGE) NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Caption The background image shows the sun as captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, on May 9, 2016, as Mercury passed in front of the sun. The inset shows close-up imagery of Mercury's transit. The inset alternates between views from NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, and SDO. Credit Credits: IRIS, LMSAL/NASA, Wei Liu and Bart De Pontieu Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.