Only thirteen times each century the planet Mercury passes between the sun and Earth in what is known as a transit--and the next occurance is on Nov. 8. It will be visible from western North America, eastern Pacific, New Zealand, southeastern Australia and Antarctica beginning at 11:12 a.m. PST and last for almost five hours.
You won't be able to see the planet with the naked eye but it can be seen with a filtered telescope or homemade optical projector. Here are directions from NASA.
Left is Mercury photographed during its last transit of the sun in 2003. Right is what might be seen during Mercury's 2006 transit. Mercury is the dot in the lower center. The other marks are sun spots (or dirt specs on your monitor).
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