Transit of Mercury
The 2016 Mercury planetary transit is seen in an undated NASA conceptual image. Mercury will pass between Earth and the sun in the rare astronomical event between about 7:12 a.m. and 2:42 p.m. EDT (11:12 - 18:42 GMT) on May 9, 2016. NASA/Handout via Reuters

After warnings that planetary alignment would cause the moon to turn green for 90 minutes on April 20 failed to scare people, hoax makers are now using the passing of a planet in front of the Sun as their new scare weapon.

The celestial event is actually the transit of Mercury. According to scientists, it happens only every few years, the last in 2006 and the next two ones in 2019 and 2039. It would be visible on May 9 throughout North America, Mexico, Central America, South America and parts of Asia, Africa and Europe.

Planetary transits are rarer than eclipses of the Sun by the Moon, while there are, on the average, only 13 transits of Mercury every 100 years. Also, only the transits of the two inner planets, Venus and Mercury, are visible from Earth.

However, the Herald Sun reports that The Prophetico, a YouTube channel, made an analysis of the correlation between the alignment of the planets and star constellations, but suggests the natural phenomenon has a grave significance. The narrator hints of destruction of Earth, based on its interpretations of biblical prophecies.

Prophetico's video claims “when the Blood Moon Jubilee is measured from Rosh Hashana 2015, the Jewish New Year, the transit of Mercury is set to take place 240 days, also 40 days short of the full birth cycle.” The narrator then points to the bible mentioning the number 40 several times such as it is the number of days that Moses spent with God on Mt Sinai, which Goliath challenged Israel and Jesus fasted.

The narrator cites that since May 6 is the start of a new moon cycle, also a super moon, the Moon would then be three days old when the transit of Mercury that runs for 7.5 hours occurs. In turn, the number three is also cited as related to sex sins in the bible.

Among the scenarios raised by the narrator are Mercury transiting the Sun in the wrong direction, or being knocked out of orbit and causing an Apocalypse.

However, those who do not take Prophetico’s end-of-the-world forecast seriously could instead view the celestial event with telescopes and approved solar filters. Mercury would begin inching its way across the Sun at 7:12 am EDT on Monday morning, which would last until 2:40 pm EDT. In areas where the transit is not visible, people could watch the event online when the Slooh Community Observatory, based in Washington Depot, Connecticut, hosts a free, live webcast.

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