TRANSIT FEVER 2019!
DEAN: WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS.
I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.
JAMES: AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA
SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE FLORIDA.
THERE'S SOMETHING REALLY EXCITING HAPPENING IN THE SKY NEXT MONTH AND IT INVOLVES THE
CLOSEST PLANET TO THE SUN.
DEAN: THATS RIGHT, JAMES.
ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH, 2019, WE WILL GET TO SEE THE PLANET MERCURY PASSING DIRECTLY
IN FRONT OF THE SUN.
JAMES: WE CALL THAT A TRANSIT OF MERCURY; AND ITS
SOMETHING YOU DONT GET TO SEE VERY OFTEN.
DEAN: WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
LETS SHOW YOU!
JAMES: TRANSITS OF MERCURY ACROSS THE SUN ARE RARE
EVENTS WHERE MERCURY PASSES DIRECTLY BETWEEN EARTH AND THE SUN.
ITS LIKE A TEENY TINY ECLIPSE, BUT NOT NEARLY AS DRAMATIC.
FROM EARTHS PERSPECTIVE, WE'LL SEE MERCURY AS A LITTLE BLACK DOT CROSSING IN FRONT OF
THE SUN AND EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE RARE, THESE MERCURY TRANSITS ARE A LOT MORE FREQUENT THAN
TRANSITS OF VENUS.
DEAN: THATS RIGHT, JAMES.
ON AVERAGE, THERE ARE BETWEEN 13 AND 14 TRANSITS OF MERCURY VISIBLE EACH CENTURY.
THIS IS MOSTLY BECAUSE MERCURY IS MUCH CLOSER TO THE SUN AND IT ORBITS MORE RAPIDLY.
A MERCURY-YEAR IS ONLY 88 DAYS LONG, SO IT PASSES BETWEEN THE EARTH AND SUN FOUR TIMES
EACH YEAR HERE ON EARTH.
HOWEVER MERCURYS ORBIT AND EARTHS ORBIT ARE INCLINED TO EACH OTHER, SO MOST OF THE
TIME, MERCURY PASSES ABOVE OR BELOW THE SUN AS IT PASSES US.
JAMES: HERE ON EARTH, TRANSITS OF MERCURY HAPPEN
IN MAY AND NOVEMBER.
THE FIRST OBSERVATION OF A TRANSIT OF MERCURY WAS ON NOVEMBER 7, 1631 BY FRENCH ASTRONOMER
PIERRE GASSENDI.
THE MOST RECENT TRANSITS HAPPENED IN 2003, 2006 AND 2016.
DEAN: AFTER THIS ONE,
THE NEXT TRANSIT WILL OCCUR ON NOVEMBER 13TH, 2032.
BUT THAT ONE WILL NOT BE VISIBLE FROM THE UNITED STATES.
THAT MEANS YOU MIGHT HAVE TO WAIT 30 YEARS, UNTIL 2049 TO SEE ANOTHER TRANSIT IN OUR HEMISPHERE.
SO DON'T MISS THIS ONE!
DEAN: TRANSITS OF MERCURY ARE NOT ONLY VISIBLE FROM
EARTH.
ON JUNE 3RD, 2014, THE CURIOSITY ROVER ON MARS VIEWED MERCURY TRANSITING THE SUN.
THIS MARKED THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY WHERE A PLANETARY TRANSIT WAS VIEWED FROM A LOCATION
OTHER THAN EARTH.
JAMES: SPEAKING OF WHICH,
IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE VISITING MARS ON NOVEMBER 10, 2084,
MAKE SURE YOU TAKE YOUR SOLAR FILTERS WITH YOU, BECAUSE THATS THE DAY OUR PLANET EARTH
WILL TRANSIT THE SUN, FROM MARS PERSPECTIVE.
IF YOU HAD A TELESCOPE WITH YOU, YOU'LL EVEN BE ABLE TO SEE EARTH'S MOON.
DEAN: YEAH I KNOW.
THATS LIKE 65 YEARS FROM NOW.
BUT THINK ABOUT IT, PEOPLE ARE LIVING LONGER THESE DAYS;
AND WE MIGHT HAVE ASTRONAUTS VISITING MARS BY THAT TIME.
JAMES: BESIDES, IF YOU DONT WANT TO WAIT UNTIL 2084,
VISIT JUPITER ON JANUARY 10TH, 2026 AND YOU CAN SEE EARTH TRANSITING THE SUN THEN.
DEAN: NOW, MARK YOUR CALENDARS BECAUSE THE NEXT
TRANSIT OF MERCURY WILL BEGIN AT 7:36 AM EASTERN STANDARD TIME ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH AND
LAST UNTIL 1:02PM.
NEXT MONTH, WE'LL GIVE YOU ALL THE DETAILS ON HOW TO SAFELY OBSERVE THIS UNIQUE EVENT.
SO IN THE MEANTIME, LETS CHECK OUT WHATS GOING ON IN THE REST
OF THE SKY.
JAMES: OK, WE'VE GOT OUR SKIES SET UP FOR SHORTLY
AFTER SUNSET ANY NIGHT THIS WEEK, AND IF YOUR SKIES ARE CLEAR, YOULL GET TO SEE THE TWO
LARGEST PLANETS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM GRACING THE SKY.
IF YOU LOOK TOWARD THE SOUTHWEST, YOU'LL SEE THE J-SHAPED PATTERN OF STARS THAT MAKE SCORPIUS
THE SCORPION.
DIRECTLY ABOVE IT, YOULL SEE THE BRIGHT PLANET JUPITER.
DEAN: USING A TELESCOPE, YOULL BE ABLE TO SEE FOUR
STAR-LIKE OBJECTS TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT OF JUPITER.
THESE ARE JUPITERS FOUR LARGEST MOONS; IO, EUROPA, GANYMEDE AND CALLISTO, AND EACH
NIGHT, THEY'LL BE IN A DIFFERENT POSITION.
JAMES: IF YOU LOOK DUE SOUTH, YOU'LL SEE THE STARS
OF SAGITTARIUS THE CENTAUR ARCHER.
AMONG THEM, YOU'LL SEE A BRIGHT, CREAM-COLORED LIGHT JUST ABOVE THE HANDLE OF THE TEAPOT
IN SAGITTARIUS.
THATS THE PLANET SATURN.
DEAN: ALTHOUGH WERE GETTING FURTHER AWAY FROM SATURN
EVERYDAY, YOU'LL STILL BE ABLE TO SEE SATURNS MAGNIFICENT RINGS THROUGH EVEN A MODEST TELESCOPE.
JAMES: SO THERE YOU HAVE IT.
JUST AFTER SUNSET THIS WEEK YOU HAVE JUPITER TO THE SOUTHWEST, SATURN IN THE SOUTH…
DEAN: AND NEXT MONTH,
ON NOVEMBER 11TH, THE MUST SEE EVENT OF 2019, THE TRANSIT OF MERCURY!
BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!