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The transit of Mercury starts at 7:35 am ET and will last for 5.5 hours

solarsystem.nasa.gov

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Re: The transit of Mercury starts at 7:35 am ET and will last for 5.5 hours

#11

Post by chrisshroba »

ranger207 wrote: post #7
throwaway35784 wrote: post #5

Will a welding mask work?

That's what I used for the transit of Venus, along with some binoculars. Make sure the glass is dark enough of course.

Please note that the welding mask needs to be put between the sun and the binoculars, not between the binoculars and the eyes. Otherwise, so much light from the sun will be focused by the binoculars that the welding mask will not be nearly enough to counteract it, and severe eye damage is pretty much a certainty.

Also, note that many astronomers will say that only filters that are rated for solar use should be used, which a welding mask is not. So do this at your own risk.

Re: The transit of Mercury starts at 7:35 am ET and will last for 5.5 hours

#13

Post by newnewpdro »

tinix wrote: post #6
throwaway35784 wrote: post #5

Will a welding mask work?

you need a high shade, at least 14. just get a stack of neutral density filters, and some IR/UV block filters, and use a camera... you'll need magnification anyway.

You're reminding me of reports that people had returned very expensive rented telephoto lenses destroyed by sunlight after the last total lunar eclipse.

Re: The transit of Mercury starts at 7:35 am ET and will last for 5.5 hours

#14

Post by nexuist »

Interesting to think about where we'll be when this happens again in 2049.

It's a difference of only 30 years. 30 years ago was 1989. Yet life today compared to then is simply alien - technology has impacted the way everyone and every thing exists.

The first self-powered flight was in 1903. Man landed on the Moon just 66 years later. In one lifetime you went from being perpetually constrained to the surface to literally flying above the sky, transcending all known heights, and you wouldn't even have retired yet.

SpaceX was started in 2002, a mere 17 years ago. It is now, on this very day, on the verge of delivering hardware that can send people to Mars.

In 30 years from now, if the optimists are correct, we'll be living on the Moon and probably Mars. If the optimists are correct, we'll be able to take a shuttle from Mars to Mercury itself by the time this event happens again.

The optimists are probably wrong. But it doesn't hurt to dream.

Re: The transit of Mercury starts at 7:35 am ET and will last for 5.5 hours

#15

Post by lisper »

nexuist wrote: post #14

Interesting to think about where we'll be when this happens again in 2049. It's a difference of only 30 years. 30 years ago was 1989. Yet life today compared to then is simply alien - technology has impacted the way everyone and every thing exists. The first self-powered flight was in 1903. Man landed on the Moon just 66 years later. In one lifetime you went from being perpetually constrained to the surface to litera…

I remember a world without the internet, without personal computers, without ATM machines. I am a member of the last generation (until the apocalypse) who will know what life was like without these things. Traveling was more of an adventure back then because you were pretty much cut off from home. Nowadays, being away is not so different from being at home.

We may be living on the moon in 2049. Whether that represents a net improvement in the human condition is another matter altogether.

Re: The transit of Mercury starts at 7:35 am ET and will last for 5.5 hours

#18

Post by galago »

nexuist wrote: post #14

Interesting to think about where we'll be when this happens again in 2049. It's a difference of only 30 years. 30 years ago was 1989. Yet life today compared to then is simply alien - technology has impacted the way everyone and every thing exists. The first self-powered flight was in 1903. Man landed on the Moon just 66 years later. In one lifetime you went from being perpetually constrained to the surface to litera…

Prediction: When we watch the transit of Earth from Mars, it will be remotely--there just isn't much advantage to humans physically living on Mars. We can see/understand what's going on, without pointless expense, tragedies, and indignities that would go with human presence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Earth_from_Mars

Re: The transit of Mercury starts at 7:35 am ET and will last for 5.5 hours

#19

Post by lightedman »

chrisshroba wrote: post #11
ranger207 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I used for the transit of Venus, along with some binoculars. Make sure the glass is dark enough of course.

Please note that the welding mask needs to be put between the sun and the binoculars, not between the binoculars and the eyes. Otherwise, so much light from the sun will be focused by the binoculars that the welding mask will not be nearly enough to counteract it, and severe eye damage is pretty much a certainty. Also, note that many astronomers will say that only filters that are rated for solar use should be used,…

Welding masks may not be rated for solar, but given that they block out the insane amount of UVA-UVB generated by welding, and our atmosphere totally kills UVC, you're good to go as long as you aren't relying upon the auto-darkening ones.
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