Mercury Saturn encounter captured by the SOHO satellite

In the afternoon hours of February 28, 2024, the innermost planet of our solar system, Mercury, and the sixth planet, the ringed gas giant Saturn, apparently met.
As this encounter took place close to the Sun, the event could not be observed from the day side of the Earth.

The SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) satellite, which is located around 1.5 million kilometers from Earth and is permanently aligned with the sun, was able to record the encounter. SOHO is a joint project of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the US National Air and Space Administration (NASA). It was launched in 1995 and is expected to remain in service until 2025.

Here is a detail of the encounter. Mercury below the Sun moves from right to left, Saturn comes from the left. The closest approach took place around 4 pm.

Source: SOHO (ESA & NASA), https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c3/512/