2016/05/09 Mercury Transit

Mercury transit is not as rare as Venus transit occurred in 2012, however it is still a rare astronomical event that deserves public attention.

Long before the event, I had planned to setup my telescope in front of a local library for public viewing, but on the date before the transmit, I realized that I might be out of luck again due to fog. On 5/8 night, the marine layer thickened quickly to 4000 feet, probably the thickest marine during the entire summer. I knew that the fog would not dissipate before the event, so I got up 3AM to seek clear sky some where.

I tried my luck first at Henry Coe state park, but it was completely soaked in a very dense fog, I turned back and headed  to the central valley. Once I passed over Pacheco Pass, sky  became clear. Since I almost ran out the time, I set up my equipments at parking lots at HW165 @ I-5 exit.

The sky remained clear except very few clouds on horizon, but the seeing was not excellent most of time.

2016/05/09 Mercury Transit

This photo stacks 11 photos taken at different time to show the movement of Mercury during entire visible transit.

Mercury Transit Egress

Closed up image of Mercury transit egress, when the Mercury slowly moved  out of the Sun.

The following photos were taken at the different time. It should be noted that there are only a few small sun spots, and the Mercury is noticeably smaller than Venus during 2012 Venus transit.

07h58m35s, 1/4000s @ ISO 1600
Mercury Transit

08h50m04s, 1/2500s @ ISO 800
Mercury Transit

09h44m52s, 1/3200s @ ISO 800
Mercury Transit

10h25m03s, 1/4000s @ ISO 800
Mercury Transit

11h20m08s, 1/4000s @ ISO 800
Mercury Transit

11h41m38s, 1/4000s @ ISO 800
Mercury Transit

Equipments

Equipments

Location: Parking lot next to Shell gas station at HW165 exit @ I-5
Condition: Clear, with good seeing
Equipment: AT111EDT + CGEM + Baader solar filter, Canon T3i