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[Centaur]

A transit of Mercury across the Sun’s apparent disk will occur on Wednesday 2006 NOV 08. Mercury transits happen about 13 times per century (much more frequently than for Venus.) The last one was in 2003, and the next one following will be in 2016.

For those of us in Chicagoland, this year’s transit will be an afternoon event interrupted by the setting of Mercury beneath our horizon at 16:34 CST (UT - 6). The local exterior contact at ingress will occur at 13:12:25 CST and interior contact at 13:14:18 CST. Mercury will appear closest to the center of the solar disk at 15:40:53 CST. Although the concluding events won't be visible from Chicago, interior contact at egress will occur at 18:07:41 CST and exterior contact at 18:09:34 CST.

The transit will be visible from anywhere in daylight while the transit is taking place. That excludes Europe, Africa and western Asia. The event times that I've given for Chicago should be accurate within a minute for most places experiencing daytime (allowing for time zone adjustments.) Here’s a link to the USNO’s timings for more locations:

aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/Mercury2006.pdf#search='transit%20mercury%202006

I’ve created a graphic previewing the transit as it will be seen from Chicago. To see it, click:

www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

The graphic may be removed soon after the event occurs.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Mercury Transit 2006

T-minus two days till the Mercury Transit and Chicago may actually get clear skies for the event... ;D

I will be at the Adler Planetarium manning the Nikon Refractor for some projection viewing, and the rest of the Adler crew will be working the H-Alpha scopes and aperture filtered direct viewing on dobs, Maks and SCT's. The Doane observatory will be in operation and the large Coronado Solar scope will be manned by one of us for public participation.

Here is an animation from NASA that shows the actual path we are to expect at 1:12 pm on Wednesday:

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Observation Prep:

Wear a hat, some sun screen and get a chair...it's going to last hours. I use a patio umbrella at the Adler and stay under it while showing visitors views. It also shades the screen for better contrast.

Be sure you get some digital/photographic shots and send them in to the Chicago Astronomer. You won't get another chance till 2016.


Safety Guidelines:

I must state that observing the transit without proper equipment or techniques can harm or injure your eyes. Smoked glass, sunglasses or negative film are out and not safe. Do not use an unfiltered reflector to project an image. This includes Dobs, Maks and SCT's. The internal heat buildup from an extended session can melt and damage the scope. I read an account where one scope actually caught on fire! Refractors are good, as it's just a straight thru shot for projection viewing. Put a aperture filter on these types of scopes, and you will be fine.

Cover your finder scopes or just remove them in preventing an accidental gaze from the unknowing public or children. I had a few visitors attempt to peer thru the scope while projecting a solar image on to a screen. It's important to stay by your scope at all time, or disable it when away.

I remember one individual who had rubberbanded the silver pop-tart packaging to the objectives of his binoculars for the Venus transit of '04. I took a peek, seemed to have worked, but I would not recommend this technique for safe observing.

Follow the info provided by Chicago Astronomer Curt, hope for clear skies and tell us about your experience.

[Centaur]

In addition to Chicago, I have now created Mercury transit previews for New York, Miami, Phoenix and San Francisco. To see them, go to www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

[Centaur]

admin said:

Here is an animation from NASA that shows the actual path we are to expect at 1:12 pm on Wednesday:

You'll only be able to witness Mercury moving along that "actual path", if you intend to be at the center of the Earth tomorrow and arbitrarily decide that up is toward the north pole. If so, bring your X-ray-vision goggles. For those planning to remain on the rotating surface of the Earth, the actual path as seen from Chicago can be previewed on my website.

[Mahinamama]

ANy idea as to how someone with out a filter for thier scope can view this? So far the only thing I have found is a "how to view a partial eclipse" kind of thing.

[Centaur]

admin said:

Hmmm, 1852? That must be the year it was drawn, and not the year of the transit. There was no Mercury transit in 1852. The artist apparently waited quite a while following the transit of 1848. The next one was in 1861.

The relative size of the black disk appears more like Venus than Mercury. But there also was no Venus transit in 1852. The one prior was in 1769, and the next one was in 1874.

[Centaur]

manaratowen said:

ANy idea as to how someone with out a filter for thier scope can view this? So far the only thing I have found is a "how to view a partial eclipse" kind of thing.

The partial eclipse instructions should also be good for a transit of a planet. Annular eclipses (and their associated partial phases) of the Sun are more correctly referred to as transits. The instructions you have probably involve a projection method, which is relatively safer for your eyes. Nevertheless, be careful. Happy viewing.

[Mahinamama]

Thank you. The only instructions I had was to poke a hole in an index card and hold another out at about 4 feet, which I did and did not work. Oh well, I tried. I guess I will just have to extend my christmas list to include a filter...lol