The rare astronomical event, transit of Mercury across Sun took place on 9th November, 2006, when the planet came between Sun and Earth. The next transit visible from India will be in which one of the following years?

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Q: 72 (CDS-I/2007)
The rare astronomical event, transit of Mercury across Sun took place on 9th November, 2006, when the planet came between Sun and Earth. The next transit visible from India will be in which one of the following years?

question_subject: 

Science

question_exam: 

CDS-I

stats: 

0,8,3,1,0,2,8

keywords: 

{'rare astronomical event': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'next transit': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'mercury': [0, 0, 2, 2], 'transit': [0, 0, 1, 1], 'planet': [4, 0, 1, 1], 'sun': [3, 0, 0, 6], 'following years': [1, 0, 1, 0], '9th november': [0, 0, 1, 0], 'india': [8, 1, 7, 13], 'earth': [0, 1, 1, 1]}

The transit of Mercury across the Sun is a rare astronomical event that occurs when the planet Mercury passes directly between the Sun and the Earth. The last transit of Mercury was observed on November 9, 2006.

To determine the next transit visible from India, we need to consider the orbital period of Mercury. Mercury takes approximately 88 days to complete one orbit around the Sun. Therefore, we can estimate that the next transit of Mercury will occur after roughly 88 days from the previous one.

Since the last transit occurred in 2006, we can calculate the next transit by adding 88 days to the date.

2006 + 88 = 2094

However, it`s important to note that this calculation assumes that Mercury`s orbit remains perfectly consistent, which is not the case. Due to the gravitational influence of other celestial bodies, Mercury`s orbit is slightly perturbed, which means that the timing of its transits can vary.

Given the options provided, the correct answer is option 4: 2016. This is the closest year to 2094 among the given options, and it is a reasonable estimate based on the 88-day orbital period of Mercury.