Starship Asterisk*

11/11/2019 I just watched a replay of the full transit on the NASA site. Mercury sure looks insignificant against the Sun.

Both images are off. According to NASA's illustration the transit would look more like the first one ascending from left to right, but not as steep and a bit closer to the Sun's centre this time. That's because Mercury always ascends in the orbit in November and descends in May. So the second picture was taken in May.

Ahh; Mercury! You're a real Hottie!! :D :eyebrows:

[quote=futurejohn post_id=296883 time=1573388010 user_id=144892]
When I first go to APOD, the image is 90° off so it looks like Mercury's orbit is on a vertical plane. It's the correct horizontal plane when I click on the image, though.
[/quote]Thanks for that insight. I often don't choose the 'click-on' feature, and I was a bit confused today until I saw your post. I wish they'd have drawn Earth's orbit in for those of my ilk lol...

When I first go to APOD, the image is 90° off so it looks like Mercury's orbit is on a vertical plane. It's the correct horizontal plane when I click on the image, though.

[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191110.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_191110.jpg[/img] [size=150]A Mercury Transit Sequence[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] Tomorrow -- Monday -- [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury/overview/]Mercury[/url] will cross the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060925.html]face[/url] of the [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/sun.html]Sun[/url], as [url=https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=653]seen[/url] from Earth. Called a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_(astronomy)]transit[/url], the last time this happened was in [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160511.html]2016[/url]. Because the [url=https://mathinsight.org/applet/plane_three_points]plane[/url] of Mercury's orbit is not exactly coincident with the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap001014.html]plane of Earth's orbit[/url], Mercury usually [url=http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/transit/catalog/MercuryCatalog.html]appears[/url] to pass over or under the Sun. The featured time-lapse sequence, superimposed on a single frame, was taken from a balcony in [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium]Belgium[/url] shows the entire [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030508.html]transit[/url] of 2003 May 7. That [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030513.html]solar crossing[/url] lasted over five hours, so that the above 23 images were taken roughly 15 minutes apart. The [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040919.html]north pole[/url] of the [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/]Sun[/url], the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap001020.html]Earth[/url]'s orbit, and [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury/in-depth/]Mercury[/url]'s orbit, although all different, all occur in directions slightly above the left of the image. Near the center and on the far right, [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000223.html]sunspot[/url]s are visible. After [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu9ASSZQEbg]Monday[/url], the next [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Mercury]transit of Mercury[/url] will occur in 2032.


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