On Monday morning, Nov. 11, there is a rare transit of Mercury across the sun. Mercury is the nearest planet to the sun and stays close to the sun all the time. Every once in a while, it passes directly in front of the sun and becomes visible as a small black disk silhouetted against the bright sun.
The transit will be in progress as the Sun rises at 6:49 a.m. in Tucson. Mercury reaches its deepest incursion across the sun at 8:20 am and exits from the sun at 11:04 a.m. This is an absolute must-see event. The next transit of Mercury will not occur until 2032, and the next one visible in the United States will not happen until 2049.
You will need a telescope to see Mercury’s tiny disk. It is absolutely necessary that the sun be observed with a safe solar filter or by safe protection methods. See the following website for more safety information on how to view the sun: eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/safety.html
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Very inexpensive solar filters for telescopes or visual observing can be purchased online or at science centers, museums, and astronomy shops, such as Flandrau Science Center, 621-4516, Starizona 292-5010, and Stellar Vision 571-0877.
The Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, Inc. will have several solar telescopes to safely view the transit at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park, 3482 E. River Road, on Nov. 11 from 7:30 a.m.–11 a.m. The association can be reached at tucsonastronomy.org/ or at 792-6414.
