Transit of Mercury 2006: Tips for Capturing Photos | Physics Forums Blog

[robphy]

https://www.physicsforums.com/blog/2006/11/06/transit-of-mercury-2006/

Anyone planning to take pictures?

 

[selfAdjoint]

..or planning to measure it and recalculate the size of the solar system?

 

[tony873004]

For anyone in San Francisco, San Francisco State University's Astronomy department will be setting up telescopes, including ahydrogen-alpha Coronodo for the event. Looks like it may be foggy though.

 

[DaxInvader]

Woah! I hope not to miss it! Can we see it in Quebec?

 

[russ_watters]

I was actually thinking of taking a telescope to work with me tomorrow. Fortunately, heavy rain is going to keep me from getting fired...

 

[russ_watters]

Woah! I hope not to miss it! Can we see it in Quebec?

As long as you can see the sun... It starts at about 2:15 in the afternoon (EST) and ends at 7:00.

 

[DaxInvader]

Thank you.. alltrought.. let's see if I can repair my telescope.. They won't like seeing my telescope at school tommorow. So i'll try tonight :P

 

[tony873004]

It's underway. Mercury is very near a large sunspot. Compared to the sunspot, Mercury looks very small, very dark, and very round.

 

[DaxInvader]

BOOOH ITS CLOUDY! CAN'T SEE IT! :( maybe if get on my roof top and get my telescope over the clouds...

 

[robphy]

http://www.exploratorium.edu/transit/transit-live.ram
live stream from the exploratorium

 

[tony873004]

A very successful observation session from San Francisco State University campus! A rainy night and cloudy morning turned to bright Sun just in time for the transit. Not a cloud would be seen for the rest of the day.

I watched the first 45 minutes from home, then brought my telescope down to campus to join three other telescopes set up there. There were hundreds (someone said 1500) people over the course of the 5 hour transit who got a chance to see Mercury's sillouhette on the face of Sol.
Some were disappointed: "Oh, that's all?". Others: "Wow! that's so cool!"

Mercury entered Sol's disk near a large sunspot that is probably 3 times larger than Earth. Mercury's small disk marched across the face of the Sun over the next 5 hours, passing near two small sunspots before leaving the solar disk.

 

[yenchin]

Here in Singapore we get to view it after sunrise today, from about 7am to 8.10am. Nice view. A big sunspot is on the other hemisphere of the Sun, a few smaller ones are near to Mercury.

 

[DaxInvader]

Missed it all... CLOUDY! and rainy...

 

[interested_learner]

In Arizona it was great.

For photo see:

http://uanews.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANews.woa/wa/MainStoryDetails?ArticleID=13313

and for a great picture taken by the SOHO spacecraft :

http://www.tucsonastronomy.org/PDF/Newsletter_Archive/TAAA_Newsletter_200611.pdf