http://spaceweather.com/
Just a little reminder
Tim
OT: Mercury Transit
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- R.I.P.
- 3833 posts since 8 Sep, 2003 from Santa Clara, CA, USA
TRANSIT OF MERCURY: On Wednesday, Nov. 8th, Mercury will pass directly in front of the sun--a rare transit visible from the Americas, Hawaii and all around the Pacific Rim. The action begins at 2:12 p.m. EST (11:12 a.m. PST) and lasts for nearly five hours.
http://spaceweather.com/
Just a little reminder
Tim
http://spaceweather.com/
Just a little reminder
Tim
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- KVRAF
- 4420 posts since 7 Nov, 2005 from Florida
Wow. Is it visible to the naked eye, or do I need a telescope to see it?
Mike
Mike
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- KVRAF
- 4420 posts since 7 Nov, 2005 from Florida
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- Skunk Mod
- 21249 posts since 10 Jun, 2004 from Pony Pasture
@Karmacomposer: You need a telescope equipped with a solar filter over the "big end" (the end that points toward what you're looking at).
Filters that attach at the eyepiece end are VERY dangerous; the heat of the Sun, concentrated by the telescope, can crack the filter and let unfiltered sunlight strike your eye. This is hot enough to ignite paper in a second or two, and will burn retinas just dandy too. The result: a scarred visual field, a black "floater" blocking out the middle of your vision for the rest of your life.
Better still, use a regular telescope with the eyepiece turned downward to project the sun's image away from you and onto a flat white surface. This will work even with cheap little department-store telescopes. The sun's so big and easy an object that it doesn't take fancy gear to see its spots (for amateur observing purposes, Mercury in transit looks fairly similar to a runaway sunspot).
Also be sure to cover the miniature "finder" scope on the side of the main telescope tube. Even looking through the little finder at the sun can damage your eyes, though not as fast or as badly as the main telescope.
Haven't got a telescope? You might be able to get an image with just a pinhole in a big piece of cardboard, projecting a simple image onto a larger card held some distance back from the holed card. The solar image will appear in the middle of the pinholed card's shadow. Works fine for eclipses, and it might give a suitable image for a transit too.
Filters that attach at the eyepiece end are VERY dangerous; the heat of the Sun, concentrated by the telescope, can crack the filter and let unfiltered sunlight strike your eye. This is hot enough to ignite paper in a second or two, and will burn retinas just dandy too. The result: a scarred visual field, a black "floater" blocking out the middle of your vision for the rest of your life.
Better still, use a regular telescope with the eyepiece turned downward to project the sun's image away from you and onto a flat white surface. This will work even with cheap little department-store telescopes. The sun's so big and easy an object that it doesn't take fancy gear to see its spots (for amateur observing purposes, Mercury in transit looks fairly similar to a runaway sunspot).
Also be sure to cover the miniature "finder" scope on the side of the main telescope tube. Even looking through the little finder at the sun can damage your eyes, though not as fast or as badly as the main telescope.
Haven't got a telescope? You might be able to get an image with just a pinhole in a big piece of cardboard, projecting a simple image onto a larger card held some distance back from the holed card. The solar image will appear in the middle of the pinholed card's shadow. Works fine for eclipses, and it might give a suitable image for a transit too.
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- Mod-ulator
- 2895 posts since 31 Oct, 2000 from "Where I'm to, There I'll be"
HEH
I was just coming to your Forum to post this as I know there are a bunch of AstroHeads down here.
I posted in Off topic also:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=157157
It is just about to start here in about an hour.
I'm off to setup the 6" Reflector with a Full aperture Solar Filter. Skies are presently pretty decent here for viewing.
Talk soon
Paul
I was just coming to your Forum to post this as I know there are a bunch of AstroHeads down here.
I posted in Off topic also:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=157157
It is just about to start here in about an hour.
I'm off to setup the 6" Reflector with a Full aperture Solar Filter. Skies are presently pretty decent here for viewing.
Talk soon
Paul
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- R.I.P.
- Topic Starter
- 3833 posts since 8 Sep, 2003 from Santa Clara, CA, USA
Yeah..I did the projection method, but I got it confused with a large sunspot that was real near it. But..I saw it!! so..I can say..I SAW IT!! I think the next one is in 2016 or so.
Glad to see you getting out your scope again Paul!
But that night..I set up my 8" Dob and got lots of nice clusters in Persius. The Double cluster still continues to amaze me, but found some smaller ones one.
Glad to see you getting out your scope again Paul!
But that night..I set up my 8" Dob and got lots of nice clusters in Persius. The Double cluster still continues to amaze me, but found some smaller ones one.