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Transit of Mercury

onj
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Wed, 05/04/2016 - 14:13

Hi,

Just a reminder of the Transit of Mercury which occurs on 2016 May 9. Geocentric 'maximum' occurs at 14:57 UT, with little difference anywhere on the globe.

Note, just like with a partial solar eclipse, a solar filter must be used.

Mercury will be just 12" across, much smaller than Venus during its transit. So (filtered) telescopic equipment will be needed.

It an excellent opportunity to illustrate the idea of an exoplanet transit and the tiny drop in light from the parent star.

John

 

LKR
Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Fri, 05/20/2016 - 18:12
I saw it :)

And I also did one of my daily sunspot counts during the transit (I had to ignore that funny round one....)

 

KL