Transit of Mercury
November 15, 1999
To Read Transit Data Reports, Click
HERE
To Read AAAA Observing Reports,
Click HERE.
Don't forget to observe the transit of Mercury on November 15th!
According to the RASC Observer's Handbook for 1999, page
177, the times for the Transit of Mercury on
November 15 are as follows. All times are UT. Please adjust for
your local time zone. These times are valid for the area of the
center of the region of visibility.
| Geocentric
Phases of the 1999 Transit of Mercury |
| Contact I: |
21:15:01 PA 32 degrees |
| Contact II: |
21:29:44 PA 27 degrees |
| Greatest: |
21:40:53 |
| Contact III: |
21:52:03 PA 19 degrees |
| Contact IV: |
22:06:47 PA 14 degrees |
Observers in the continental United States will see the event a
bit earlier.
|
Phases of the 1999 Transit
of Mercury
From the Continental United States |
| |
EST |
CST |
MST |
PST |
| Contact I: |
4:11 PM |
3:11 PM |
2:11 PM |
1:11 PM |
| Contact II: |
4:23 PM |
3:22 PM |
2:23 PM |
1:23 PM |
| Greatest: |
4:41 PM |
3:41 PM |
2:41 PM |
1:41 PM |
| Contact III: |
4:59 PM |
3:59 PM |
2:59 PM |
1:59 PM |
| Contact IV: |
5:10 PM |
4:10 PM |
2:10 PM |
1:10 PM |
At Contact I, the planet can be seen as a
small notch on the limb of the sun. At Contact II, the entire
disk of the planet can be seen. During the next 20 minutes, the
planet shows a shadow against the solar disk.
At Contact III, the planet reaches the other edge of the sun.
Contact IV is the end of the transit.
John Westfall has written a good article about the event on pages 108-112 of
the November issue of Sky and Telescope magazine. Extensive information has also been posted
on ALPO's Web site, and you can link to it from the top of the IOTA site
at http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota
Bert Stevens, webmaster for the Astronomical
League Web Page, has also posted an excellent article about the
upcoming transit. You may read his article by clicking here.
Or click on the following image of the transit as posted on
Bert's page.
Video/CCD observers are encouraged to record what they can of the
Mercury transit, for those in the region of visibility.
