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People will get the opportunity to witness a rare astronomical event next week, its Mercury crossing the face of the Sun on Monday, May 9, 2016. The phenomenon, called Mercury transit, only happens 13 times every century. This is the time when the planet Mercury comes between the Sun and the Earth, appearing as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun. The last time the transit happened was in 2006, and the next one will be in 2019 followed by 2032, according to Mashable.

The Mercury transit will start at 7:12 a.m. ET on Monday. According to NASA, Mercury will take almost 7.5 hours to complete the journey, with the planet traveling out of the sun's face at 2:42 p.m. ET, reported ABC News. The transit of Mercury will be visible nearly everywhere on Earth except for Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines and a small area of eastern Asia. The east coast of the United States will get to watch the event entirely during the day.

It is to be noted that staring directly at the sun could turn out to be very dangerous and can even ruin your eyesight. So, it's better to take some precautions before making any move. Experts at NASA have offered some advice for sky gazers who do not want to miss the opportunity of witnessing such a rare astronomical event. People can use telescopes and even binoculars to experience the once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

"Due to its diminutive size, viewing this event safely requires a telescope or high-powered binoculars fitted with solar filters made of specially-coated glass or Mylar," the space agency has warned.

Even astronomers are quite excited to witness the event. "Astronomers get excited when any two things come close to each other in the heavens," said Louis Mayo, program manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "This is a big deal for us. Three of NASA's solar telescopes will watch the transit for just that reason."

For everyone who will not be able to watch the phenomenon, NASA TV will be streaming a live feed from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. In addition, NASA will also air a "live panel discussion on the science behind the mercury transit" from 10:30 a.m. EDT. For more information you can check out NASA TV's schedule here.