The next Mercury transit is fast approaching. Mercury will transit (or pass in front of the Sun) as seen from Earth on Monday, November 11, 2019. The last time this happened was three years ago in 2016. If you miss it in 2019 you’ll have to wait 13 years until the next transit in 2032.
Mercury Transit 2016
Mercury is very small compared to the Sun. The small speck to the right of center in the image above is Mercury. The other speck to the left is a sunspot. You could line up 194 Mercuries across the face of the Sun. Since it’s small you will need a telescope and an approved solar filter in order to view this event. Warning: NEVER look at the Sun without proper eye protection or you will permanently damage your eyes. NEVER look through a telescope at the Sun unless you are certain you have a “visual grade solar filter” on the telescope.
We are now in the home stretch for what is being called the Great American Total Solar Eclipse. Not in 99 years has a total solar eclipse made its way across the continental U.S. and surely it will be one of the most observed total solar eclipses in history.
Total Solar Eclipse – February 26, 1998
The last total solar eclipse that I was present for was on February 26, 1998. Nineteen years ago my wife and I took a 7 day cruise and saw the eclipse on board the ship off the coast of Aruba in the Caribbean. Seeing the eclipse at sea was a very special treat indeed. With a flat horizon for 360 degrees it’s easier to see the moon’s shadow build on the horizon, speed toward you at almost frightening speed, over take you and speed away. I vividly recall the emotional response it generated in me and all who were there to see it. No pictures or movies can accurately reproduce this type of event. It simply must be experienced. I learned first hand that day why and how some many people become eclipse chasers. Sounds odd to those who don’t give a second thought about astronomical events but rest assured the experience drives people to see it over and over again. Kind of like a roller coaster junkie or sky diver who lives for the thrill and once seen longs for the next high from his or her obsession.
Doing star parties over the years I have witnessed long lines of party-goers queued up to take a peak through my telescope. I’ve found this to be the perfect time to talk to folks about what’s being looked at in the telescope. I like to throw out some fun facts and this always spawns more questions and curiosity in the gathered group. Talking to adults and kids about the night sky is one of the greatest aspects of doing star parties.
There is a limit to how many people can look through the scope at any given time, put simply it’s one at a time. But when I saw this neat gadget called a “solar funnel” I immediately knew it would be great at eclipses to show participants the partial phases and better yet it could do this via projection so many people close by can view the eclipse at once.
The lure is there. Friends and family not going to the eclipse are quick to say “be sure and take some good pictures!” You of course were already planning on taking pictures but now there is added pressure to get it done, and those shots had better look great! The last thing you want to do is have to show them some blurry, unfocused, dark, eclipse pictures.
Partial Solar Eclipse 6/10/02
Recording a total solar eclipse on film, digitally or using a video camera can quickly become a huge task that monopolizes your time. The logistics of getting all your equipment to your observation site and setting up in a timely manner alone introduces stresses that factor into your experience. All of this adds up and can in some cases ruin both you and your family’s eclipse experience.
Here are some suggestions for helping to ease the stress level and to allow you to get the shots you want and need all the while enjoying the eclipse. But that can’t be done, can it? Sure it can.
Here we are less than 365 days until the total solar eclipse that will be seen from coast-to-coast in the U.S. on August 21, 2017. This will be the first total solar eclipse to grace the U.S. mainland since 1979 and the first to sweep across the entire country since 1918!
animated map of the Moon’s shadows across Earth
Before I go any further I want to say to all those reading this article who have never witnessed a total solar eclipse – please, please make every effort to get to the center line next summer and experience totality. Nothing compares to it. No words can adequately explain the awesome spectacle, the emotional response generated and grandeur of a total solar eclipse. You simply must experience it at least once in your lifetime.
Mercury Transit 2016 started with an unfavorable weather forecast for the DFW area but as the day and the transit progressed the clouds began to break. The transit was in progress at sunrise here locally. I’ve uploaded the better images I took of the transit most of which were from just before maximum transit (9:58 a.m. CDT) until 3rd and 4th contact (or egress) I used my normal setup for these events a Meade 90mm (3.5″) ETX maksutov-cassegrain telescope with a Nikon D60 digital camera working at prime focus and a solar filter. These images are unedited and unprocessed.
It’s been a decade since the planet Mercury passed in front of the Sun as seen from Earth. These transits happen about 13 times a century and November 8, 2006 was the last time it happened. I took the image below with a 90 mm Meade ETX telescope. Mercury is the small dot. The larger dot to the right is a giant sunspot. You can see more of my transit images on my website.
Mercury Transit 11/8/06 Enhanced
This year on May 9, 2016 Mercury will once again slowly glide across the face of the Sun and it’ll make for a great observing opportunity for those in the U.S.A. The transit will have already begun (6:12 a.m. CDT) for those in western parts of North America. So when the Sun rises on May 9, 2016 at 6:34 a.m. CDT Mercury will already be working its way across the Sun. The greatest transit time for the DFW area will come around 9:58 a.m. CDT. Greatest transit is the instant when Mercury passes closest to the Sun’s center. Mercury should begin to move off the face of the Sun at about 1:38 p.m. CDT. Continue reading Mercury Transit 2016→
I’ve posted a series of images taken of the partial solar eclipse of 10/23/2014 on the site. You’ll find them under Astrophotography > Eclipses. I used a 90mm Meade ETX equipped with a solar filter and Nikon D60 to shoot these images.
Thursday, October 23, 2014 there will be a partial solar eclipse visible for much of North America including the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. A partial solar eclipse involves the Moon covering up only part of the Sun as seen from your location. As the central part of the Moon’s shadow (umbra) misses the Earth during a partial solar eclipse, there are no other locations on Earth where the Sun appears completely covered during this event.
Maximum Eclipse as seen from Fort Worth, Texas
This will be a late afternoon event for us here in DFW. In fact the sun will set during the partial eclipse. Here are some important eclipse milestones for the DFW area on October 23, 2014.
Current amateur astronomy information such as points of interest and events in the night sky, star party dates, educational information, telescopes buying tips and much more.
