November 11, 2019
A rare astronomical event occurred on November 11, 2019: a transit of the innermost planet, Mercury, over the disk of the Sun. We were able to observe the first part of the event in good conditions, despite the low altitude of the Sun. Following are both white light and H-alpha images using the 150 mm refractor and Quark Chromosphere filter for H-alpha, or the Herschel wedge for white light.
From the resulting session we could also assemble two animations, showing the ingress of the planet and advancement along the solar chromosphere. Note the dynamics of the chromosphere in the background. First animation was processed for a fixed planet perspective, with the Sun moving in the background. The second longer animation was processed for a fix solar surface perspective.
A technically simple image, acquired using a mobile phone at the eyepiece of the 150 mm refractor in white light, showing the apparent size of Mercury during the transit, and also the lack of any sunspots at the moment.
A final shot of the event, taken not long before sunset, showing the Sun between clouds with the small dark shape of Mercury. Equip: 150mm achromat refractor, unfiltered, Canon 6D at ISO100, 1/4000s. This image was also selected for the front page of SpaceWeather.com website for November 11, 2019.
Address
ISS Solar Observatory
Space Plasma and Magnetometry Laboratory
Institute of Space Science - INFLPR Subsidiary
Atomisilor Street, no. 409
077125 Magurele, Ilfov
ROMANIA
Contact
Maximilian Teodorescu
+40 21 4574471
tmaxim@spacescience.ro
Web development by Gabriel Voitcu