I had my TV-76 out today to observe the transit of Mercury. I used the scope with an 1.25" Herschel wedge and a 9mm Nagler. I had the scope mounted on a CG5 equatorial mount.
The transit started around 2:00 pm from my location in Bremen, Indiana. We had been clouded out all morning, eventually the clouds dissipated a few minutes before the transit.
The scope gave a wonderful view. The sun was a white disk, and there was a huge sunspot that had just moved over from behind the sun.
I had my high school astronomy students with me, and we observed from the school campus. We all had a lot of fun, and many of my students were quite interested in what was going on. I also showed the sun to a few teachers.
Mercury appeared as a perfectly round hole drilled in the sun. It was much smaller in diameter than the June 2004 transit of Venus, but it still was a remarkable sight. The appearance of Mercury was unmistakable, even at low magnifications. The motion of Mercury was easy to discern after just a few minutes of observation.
I also had my Coronado PST set up. I used the PST on my TelePod. The view was terrific, I really love my PST, but with this event I preferred the view through the TV-76. It was crisper, and the white photosphere augmented the stark appearance of Mercury.
In the PST, Mercury began its transit near a small prominence which formed a convenient benchmark for envisioning the apparent path of the planet as it transited.
The view in my TV-76 seemed much better than what I remember of the 1999 transit of Mercury from Arizona. I used a C8 with an off-axis filter back then.
The transit started around 2:00 pm from my location in Bremen, Indiana. We had been clouded out all morning, eventually the clouds dissipated a few minutes before the transit.
The scope gave a wonderful view. The sun was a white disk, and there was a huge sunspot that had just moved over from behind the sun.
I had my high school astronomy students with me, and we observed from the school campus. We all had a lot of fun, and many of my students were quite interested in what was going on. I also showed the sun to a few teachers.
Mercury appeared as a perfectly round hole drilled in the sun. It was much smaller in diameter than the June 2004 transit of Venus, but it still was a remarkable sight. The appearance of Mercury was unmistakable, even at low magnifications. The motion of Mercury was easy to discern after just a few minutes of observation.
I also had my Coronado PST set up. I used the PST on my TelePod. The view was terrific, I really love my PST, but with this event I preferred the view through the TV-76. It was crisper, and the white photosphere augmented the stark appearance of Mercury.
In the PST, Mercury began its transit near a small prominence which formed a convenient benchmark for envisioning the apparent path of the planet as it transited.
The view in my TV-76 seemed much better than what I remember of the 1999 transit of Mercury from Arizona. I used a C8 with an off-axis filter back then.
Michael Aaron McNeely
TeleVue Forum Moderator
Astromart.com