Mercury Transit Photos

SpaceWeather finally posted the results of the Mercury Transit Photo Contest from a few weeks back, so I thought I would link to a few of my favorites.

From Thad V'Soske, Colorado National Monument, Colorado, USA Nov. 8. 32-frame transit photo animation represents the motion of Mercury from 12:12pm to 1:29pm (local time) on November 8, 2006.

From Phillip Jones, Dallas, TX, who set up setup at the Univ. of TX - Dallas campus for students and faculty to partake the in transit event. Live video feed of the transit was displayed on his laptop. Photo details: Lumenera SKYnyx 2-1 attached to a Coronado SolarMax90 on a Tak NJP mount.

From the Japanese Hinode Spacecraft, which used its Solar Optical Telescope to capture a 0.2-arcsecond resolution movie of Mercury transiting the sun. See also the X-ray Transit of Mercury.

A young astronomer named Ryan Dunn manned the Solar viewer and expertly explaining the details and dynamics of the transit to the public at the Albuquerque Astronomical Society event.

From Andy Dodson, Huirangi, NZ. Photo details: SolarMax40 H-alpha filter, Stellarvue 80.

From Larry Alvarez, Flower Mound, Texas, Photo details: Coronado CaK 70mm scope and a Lumeneara CCD.