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Mercury Transit



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 8th 06, 09:55 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
John Banister[_1_]
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Posts: 41
Default Mercury Transit

From Northeast Texas I had first contact at 13:12:51 CST (19:12:51 GMT) and
second contact at 13:13:54 (19:13:54 GMT). I evidently will be unable to
see 3d and 4th contacts. Should I send this data anywhere?

BTW, slow, but neat.

-John


  #2  
Old November 8th 06, 10:26 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Brian Tung[_1_]
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Posts: 755
Default Mercury Transit

John Banister wrote:
From Northeast Texas I had first contact at 13:12:51 CST (19:12:51 GMT) and
second contact at 13:13:54 (19:13:54 GMT). I evidently will be unable to
see 3d and 4th contacts. Should I send this data anywhere?

BTW, slow, but neat.


Funny. I found it faster than I had expected. I showed it to someone
while it was still in the chromosphere, and by the time I got back the
comm, Mercury was already fully in the photosphere.

--
Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html
  #3  
Old November 9th 06, 05:15 AM posted to sci.astro.amateur
John Banister[_1_]
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Posts: 41
Default Mercury Transit

Brian, what size scope were you using? I was using a C90 Mak with a Baader
film filter. I chose that over my 10" newt because the Baader web site
indicated that a smaller aperture would be better. While I was satisifed
with my views, I would have liked to push the mag above 200X to view some of
the sun spots in detail. The little Mak wasn't much good beyond 133X today.

-John

"Brian Tung" wrote in message
...
John Banister wrote:
From Northeast Texas I had first contact at 13:12:51 CST (19:12:51 GMT)
and
second contact at 13:13:54 (19:13:54 GMT). I evidently will be unable to
see 3d and 4th contacts. Should I send this data anywhere?

BTW, slow, but neat.


Funny. I found it faster than I had expected. I showed it to someone
while it was still in the chromosphere, and by the time I got back the
comm, Mercury was already fully in the photosphere.

--
Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html



  #4  
Old November 9th 06, 07:07 AM posted to sci.astro.amateur
David Knisely
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Posts: 151
Default Mercury Transit

I used a full-aperture Thousand Oaks white-light filter on our NexStar
11 inch SCT at Hyde Observatory, and it worked very well. We could
easily see granulation at only 87x and the disk of Mercury was quite
prominent and easier to see for the kids than it was in the PST's we
were using to show the H-alpha sun. Clear skies to you.
--
David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club:
http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

**********************************************
* Attend the 13th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
* July 23-28, 2006, Merritt Reservoir *
* http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
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  #5  
Old November 9th 06, 07:24 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Brian Tung[_1_]
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Posts: 755
Default Mercury Transit

John Banister wrote:
Brian, what size scope were you using? I was using a C90 Mak with a Baader
film filter. I chose that over my 10" newt because the Baader web site
indicated that a smaller aperture would be better. While I was satisifed
with my views, I would have liked to push the mag above 200X to view some of
the sun spots in detail. The little Mak wasn't much good beyond 133X today.


I have a SolarMax 40. It was definitely neat watching Mercury cross the
chromosphere.

--
Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html
  #6  
Old November 9th 06, 07:51 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Mij Adyaw[_1_]
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Posts: 228
Default Mercury Transit

Brian,

I am sure that you have compared the Solarmax 40 to the PST. What are the
differences? Do you believe that the differences are worth the cost of the
Solarmax 40?

Thanks,

-mij

"Brian Tung" wrote in message
...
John Banister wrote:
Brian, what size scope were you using? I was using a C90 Mak with a
Baader
film filter. I chose that over my 10" newt because the Baader web site
indicated that a smaller aperture would be better. While I was satisifed
with my views, I would have liked to push the mag above 200X to view some
of
the sun spots in detail. The little Mak wasn't much good beyond 133X
today.


I have a SolarMax 40. It was definitely neat watching Mercury cross the
chromosphere.

--
Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html



  #7  
Old November 10th 06, 12:51 AM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Brian Tung[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 755
Default Mercury Transit

Mij Adyaw wrote:
I am sure that you have compared the Solarmax 40 to the PST. What are the
differences? Do you believe that the differences are worth the cost of the
Solarmax 40?


The PST's prominence detail is just about as good as the SM 40--maybe
not quite as good, but darned close. Where the PST is not as good is
with disc detail. There is detail that can barely be seen with the
SM 40 that cannot be seen in the PST, while the barely glimpsed detail
in the PST is seen easier through the SM 40.

That being said, I would not get the SM 40 as a *replacement* for the
PST; the reason I would get it at all would be to "double stack" it on
the PST. For a replacement, I'd upgrade to the SM 60 at the least.

--
Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.html
 




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