Mercury Transit 
Nov 15, 1999

Radio City
Mounds View, MN

The transit or passage of a planet across the disk of the Sun is a relatively unusual occurrence. As seen from Earth, only transits of Mercury and Venus are possible. On average, there are 13 transits of Mercury each century.

Leading the local effort were members of the MN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, with help from MN Space Frontier,  and Radio City.
 

Remember NEVER look directly at the Sun!

(Click on any thumbnail to see a larger 640x480 image)

Paul Wright, ?, ? and Dan Fish
Becky checks it out.
Becky, Jon and Star Huset view from an 8 inch schmidt. 

Jon Huset points out Mercury
Cheking out a projected solar image from 80 MM Meade refractor.
Becky checks it out

Solar Disk, Sun Spots and Mercury
Brett Ohnstad with Scope/camcorder  and WWV.
See Mercury? Black dot on right middle edge.

Viewing  Mercury
One last look
Brett takes a last view		 
Transits of Mercury:  1970-2050 
   Date       Universal    Separation*     
                Time
1970 May 09     08:16         114"     
1973 Nov 10     10:32          26"     
1986 Nov 13     04:07         471"     
1993 Nov 06     03:57         927"     
1999 Nov 15     21:41         963"     (graze)
2003 May 07     07:52         708"     
2006 Nov 08     21:41         423"     
2016 May 09     14:57         319"     
2019 Nov 11     15:20          76"     
2032 Nov 13     08:54         572"     
2039 Nov 07     08:46         822"     
2049 May 07     14:24         512"     

* distance (arc-seconds) between the centers of the Sun and Mercury
Info from: 1999 Transit of Mercury

If you feel that you have made accurate and/or interesting observations, send your observations and your geographic coordinates to:
Almanac Office,
U. S. Naval Observatory,
Washington, D. C. 20390, USA.

Photos by Ben Huset
 

Last revision Nov 16, 1999
by Ben
Counter started Nov 16, 1999  hits counter-
Comments welcome

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