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Mercury to Transit the Sun on Nov. 8

by Poonam Wadhwani - November 6, 2006 - 0 comments

Mercury, the smallest and closest planet to the Sun within the solar system, is scheduled to make a brief but the most unusual appearance on Wednesday.

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[quote=Poonam Wadhwani]<div class="flexinode-body flexinode-1"><div class="flexinode-textarea-1"><div class="form-item">
 <p>Mercury, the smallest and closest planet to the Sun within the solar system, is scheduled to make a brief but the most unusual appearance on Wednesday.</p>
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 <img alt="Mercury to Transit the Sun on Nov. 8" src="http://www.themoneytimes.com/filess/mercury_sm.jpg" /><br /><a href="http://www.themoneytimes.com/filess/mercury.jpg">Get original file (6KB)</a>
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 <p>On Wednesday, 2006 Nov 08, Mercury will transit the Sun for the first time since 2003, and more than half of the world will get to see a rare astronomical event.</p>
<p>The upcoming passage of the Mercury across the face of the Sun will only be seen from the east coast of Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and the west coast of the USA. There observers will be able to watch all or at least part of this prominent celestial phenomenon with small telescopes, as the Mercury slowly crosses in front of the solar disk.</p>
<p>Transits of only Mercury and Venus are possible to see from Earth. The transit of Mercury happen approximately 13 times each century. In comparison, transits of Venus occur in pairs with more than a century separating each pair. </p>
<p>The next transit of Venus is scheduled for June 6, 2012, while the next transit of Mercury will happen on May 9, 2016 and will be visible from the Americas, Europe, Africa and central Asia. The last transit of the innermost planet occurred on May 7, 2003.</p>
<p>On the average, there are 13 transits of Mercury each century, and the upcoming phenomenon will be the second Mercury transit in this century.</p>
<p>The transit or passage of any planet across the disk of the Sun may be considered as a special kind of eclipse, and a relatively rare occurrence.</p>
<p>The whole transit will be an east-to-west passage taking just 4 hours and 58 minutes. According to the astrophysics expert, Stephen Hughes of Queensland University of Technology, the transition would take nearly five hours from 5.12am (AEST). However, the "tiny" Mercury would not be visible to the unaided eye, he added. </p>
<p>Dr. Hughes said the growing astronomers would need to use a telescope to project an image of the sun onto a screen or visit an observatory to watch the unusual event. To bring out the "dark dot" of Mercury in silhouette against the Sun's disk, a telescope must be used, magnifying at least 30 to 100 power.</p>
<p>"If the image of the sun projected onto the screen were 20cm in diameter, Mercury would appear as a dot only 1mm in diameter," he said. </p>
<p>Experts advise people not to see the transit with naked eye as trying to see a transit is like trying to view a solar eclipse. They suggest, projecting the sun's magnified image through a telescope and onto a white card or screen is relatively safe and can be used for group viewing. A telescope with a full-aperture solar filter is much better for serious transit observing.</p>
<p>Furthermore, for an uninterrupted view of the Transit, check the sun's rising point a day or two beforehand to verify that trees or buildings do not block your view.</p>
<p>Due to its small angular separation from the Sun, which it orbits every 88 days, Mercury is not easily seen from the Earth.</p>
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