Comments on: Mercury transits the Sun

By: Troy

Troy — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 08:57:48 +0000

It was overcast here, got a view of blue for about 2 minutes so I think I managed to spot it by projecting the sun onto paper. The Venus transit 2 years ago was definently more conspicuous, I had better weather too.

By: Dave Kary

Dave Kary — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 05:26:38 +0000

Lovely day here in southern California, and we set up telescopes at our college to show off the transit. I had lots of fun saying “No, it’s not that big dot. That’s a sunspot. It’s the smaller round dot just below it.” No matter how many times we talk about the scales of objects in the universe, there is nothing like letting them see it with their own eyes.

By: FirstStep » Blog Archive » Mercury transits the sun

FirstStep » Blog Archive » Mercury transits the sun — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 05:15:07 +0000

[…] The reason for the box today is that Mercury is transiting the sun. The entire trip takes about five hours, during which the cute tiny little bitty dot of Mercury (see pic) travels from one edge of the sun to the other. Yes, it’s very difficult to see Mercury in that picture. It’s only a small planet, after all. If you click on the image to the left you’ll get a larger picture where it’s easier to make out that dot. […]

By: Melusine

Melusine — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 05:14:59 +0000

…that should be “without singeing your retina.” Grrr, I hate typos - maybe I need glasses - I think the glare hurts my eyes.

By: Evolving Squid

Evolving Squid — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 05:04:36 +0000

Was cloudy all day where I am. Bummer. Had the telescope ready to go too.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 04:34:57 +0000

I had a good time today hosting a transit viewing. I used an 8″ Celestron and a small refractor that belong to my University. We don’t have a camera adapter, but I did snap a few shots through the eyepiece with my digital camera. I put a couple of pictures up at
http://members.cox.net/keithfiles/PB080800.JPG
and
http://members.cox.net/keithfiles/PB080803.JPG

By: Melusine

Melusine — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 03:54:05 +0000

I’m still thinking about the Mercury transit…it’s the first event of this kind I’ve been able to see through my solar telescope. The PST makes the Sun appear a solid pinkish-red, so any spot on the surface looks like something special. What looked to be a mere fleck on the lens was a planet orbiting!…I mean, here we are this collection of atoms down here, or across here, however you want to describe space and time, and there’s all this stuff happening out there in the universe that I can see with my own eyes for a mere $500. That’s quite a bargain - to see the Sun showing off Mercury, eating comets, throwing out coronal mass ejections…without singing your retina…for $500…plus tax. Remarkable.

OK, I’m a total Solar Sycophant. (-8~