An amateur astronomer blogger highly interested in aerospace, astronomy, astro equipments and other astro related fields. Robin shares the astronomy enthusiasm with people from kids to seniors.
Are the photos above able to make you consider to get one solar filtered telescope? If I were you, I do. However, the solar minimum is around which means that the solar activity is quite inactive now. The scene may not be that gorgeous. I might hold my penny.
Kudos to March05 again for the photos above!
Edited: Photo is replaced as requested by March05. The sunspot numbers are revised.
Am I going to miss the event tomorrow again just like several events before? This time, the Baader Astrosolar Film can’t be arrived on time so I can’t use my LX90 to observe this event. As you know, Mercury is just around 10″ in diameter. You can’t see it without any optical aid. My friend suggested me to do eyepiece projection. I don’t want. The heat gathered in the focal plane will melt any plastic around, especially a large aperture telescope. It’s more likely to be burnt.
However, I don’t want to miss the event. What can I do? At the moment, I can only watch the webcast by exploratorium, NASA, Kochi National College of Technology, Astronomy Club and SOHO. I would try exploratorium, Kochi and SOHO. The webcast by NASA is just 1 hour which is too short for any excitement.
You aren’t going to waste the ability of a GoTo capable telescope in this event, are you? Sun doesn’t “move” at the speed of stars.
The movement of the stars from east to west across the sky is caused by the rotation of the Earth. The movement rate is called sidereal rate. The movement of the Sun is slower 35% than the sidereal rate. So, you have to slower the tracking rate of your computerized mount (either an EQ mount or a fork mount).
For a Meade GoTo telescope, you have to change the tracking rate from “Sidereal” to “Custom”. The path will be Setup>Tracking Rate>Custom. As suggested by dick who is always active in modifying Autostar II firmware, the custom rate has to be adjusted to -3 FOR MOST OF THE UNITS. If your autostar controller is either StarGPS patched or dick patch kit patched, you can enter -3.5 for a more precision tracking rate.
For others, the tracking rate is suggested to altered to -3 as well. If this doesn’t work, try to find out another figure around this.
Beware of using an unfiltered telescope to point to the Sun, it will cause severe damage to both of your telescope and your eyes.
Watch out for this event! This is a great chance for those who have solar telescope or solar filtered telescope who wish to take a memorial photo or observe visually. If you miss this, you are going to wait for another 10 years, i.e., 9 May 2016. Most Americans, Asians (except Indians), Aussies and those who live in the visible area have the chance to enjoy this transit. It starts at 3:12 am GMT+8 on 9 November 2006 and lasts for 5 hours.
You must protect your eyes with solar filter. If you have a telescope, make sure that it has a proper and safe solar filter (I’m going to get Baader Astrosolar Film for my 8″ LX90). Don’t look at the Sun directly, it will severely damage your eyes. For those who don’t have any of the equipments or not lucky enough to be in the visible area, you may visit SOHO on 9 November 2006 for the real time movies.
To know the exact time of the transit happens in your area, please visit NASA - Transit of Mercury 2006.
Mercury transits can occur only in May or November, when the planet crosses the ecliptic plane. And they happen rarely - 13 or 14 times per century.
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