Mercury Transits Sun - 2019 NOV 11

[Stu]

23 minutes ago, Raph-in-the-sky said:

Hey guys!

I was wondering what I could do to improve my solar viewing. I have a full apperture solar filter for my 114/500 but the sun just looks like a dull uniform disc.

Is there any filters I can use or anything I can do to improve this?

The sun is quite plain currently. Often the only thing to see is granulation on the surface. Do you have any filter you could try? I use a Continuum filter but it is quite expensive and probably won't make too much difference, I find they are perhaps more effective with a refractor and herschel Wedge. If you have anything like a UHC filter or even a green filter you could give that a try. The sun will be a little dull until we get some decent activity back I'm afraid, although hopefully the 11th should be good!

[Raph-in-the-sky]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

The sun is quite plain currently. Often the only thing to see is granulation on the surface. Do you have any filter you could try? I use a Continuum filter but it is quite expensive and probably won't make too much difference, I find they are perhaps more effective with a refractor and herschel Wedge. If you have anything like a UHC filter or even a green filter you could give that a try. The sun will be a little dull until we get some decent activity back I'm afraid, although hopefully the 11th should be good!

I have a few color filters as well as a UHC and an OIII. I was also considering a Baader Neodymium. Would it help? Is it possible to see the corona?

[Stu]

21 minutes ago, Raph-in-the-sky said:

I have a few color filters as well as a UHC and an OIII. I was also considering a Baader Neodymium. Would it help? Is it possible to see the corona?

I would try the UHC and OIII. They are narrow and filters so may just tighten things up a bit and help to see the granulation. Make sure your collimation is spot on as that will help. The Neodymium is good for lunar and planets but I don't think it would help in this case.

You can't see the Corona unless it is during an eclipse as far as I know. With an Ha scope you will see prominences around the edge and filaments on the surface but not with a white light filter I'm afraid.

[Raph-in-the-sky]

3 minutes ago, Stu said:

I would try the UHC and OIII. They are narrow and filters so may just tighten things up a bit and help to see the granulation. Make sure your collimation is spot on as that will help. The Neodymium is good for lunar and planets but I don't think it would help in this case.

You can't see the Corona unless it is during an eclipse as far as I know. With an Ha scope you will see prominences around the edge and filaments on the surface but not with a white light filter I'm afraid.

Would it help if I used my 250mm Dob instead of the 114mm? 

[Stu]

34 minutes ago, Raph-in-the-sky said:

Would it help if I used my 250mm Dob instead of the 114mm? 

In theory it might do as the 250mm will have better resolution, but seeing conditions play a big part, as do things like tube currents and thermals caused by the sun, so bigger isn't always better for solar. It is worth a go though, a piece of solar film is not expensive to make a filter from 

[John]

I'm going to be mobile on the day of the event. I did manage to catch a few minutes of the last one from my graden but that was down to luck and a little gap in the otherwise solid cloud layer that day.

I'll probably use my Vixen ED102SS and the Lunt Herschel Wedge - on the AZ-4 mount it's a pretty mobile setup.

[Mark at Beaufort]

I am hoping to view this Transit - I will be on my canal boat so I just hope that it remains clear.

I have been fortunate to see both Venus Transits - one in the UK the other in California. I have also seen two Mercury Transits the last being in 2016 when we chased the clouds in Hereford and observed in a Pub car park in Derbyshire

[John]

Robin Hood and the merry men !

[CentaurZ]

Here's my chart showing who's in and who's out for this event. 😎

[Merlin66]

Bombs me out, here in Australia......bumma!

[Star101]

Hope we get as clear skies at 2016. 

Here's some shots of the Mercury transit then that I took with my C11 on a NEQ6.

[wookie1965]

My wife is at the Hospital on the 11th but I am hoping I will be back in time take a couple of pictures with my phone. Just ordered Baader film from FLO make a solar filter.

[maw lod qan]

I've been getting ready for it in Florida. Planned a vacation starting the 10th and going all the way to the 19th to also take in the peak night of the Leonids.

Checked my solar filter out yesterday to be certain no pin holes. Also been cutting down a few trees blocking my view. 

Looks like it will begin around 8:30 at my location so hopefully that will have it above some of the neighbors trees SWMBO says I cant sneak over and put my chainsaw to.😎🙄🙄

[John]

I'm aiming to be mobile on the 11th of November with white light solar setup in the boot of the car and a tankfull of petrol ready to seek out somewhere clear.

Currently the forecast here for the 11th is very mixed so I suspect being mobile and flexible is going to  be key to getting any views. Just now the forecasts look slightly better further south so I'd be heading down to Devon I reckon.

[Nigella Bryant]

14 minutes ago, John said:

Currently the forecast here for the 11th is very mixed so I suspect being mobile and flexible is going to  be key to getting any views. Just now the forecasts look slightly better further south so I'd be heading down to Devon I reckon.

Yep, I'll be in Devon, taking my lunt 60mm double stack and Solarquest Mount with me, hopefully we'll get some breaks in the cloud's. 

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, John said:

I'm aiming to be mobile

Me too. Prompted by @Stu's posting of his backpack, I've got my set-up ready or action....

[Peter Drew]

Don't forget, if you are clouded out you can still follow the progress of the transit on GONG Solar or some other streaming sites (Slooh?).     😀

[Stu]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Me too. Prompted by @Stu's posting of his backpack, I've got my set-up ready or action....

Looks great Jeremy. I think I'll take the FC100 and AZ-GTI with me wherever I end up.  Will need to be mobile too and I would like to have tracking available.

[Fozzie]

The longer range is not looking good for Leeds... 

From accu weather..

Windy by the looks of it with rain chances....

Nice Tuesday though... typical..

Still along way to go before the 11th, I'll stay optimistic!

Ta

Fozzie

[CentaurZ]

I've created Mercury transit charts for observers at 22 different locations. Since many members of this message board are British, I'm posting my London transit chart below.

[Nigella Bryant]

Looks like it's going to be unsettled and cloudy where I'm going to be but I'm still hoping, lol. Such is the British weather. 

[Pete Presland]

With the current weather around, any view is going to be a bonus!

[mattjanes100]

Hoping for a gap in the clouds at some point in the afternoon at least, will take some solar film and binoculars to work and sneak out for a bit of it does!

[wookie1965]

Well received the Baader film from FLO and the last two days I have been making a filter that will slide on the Meade 5"

[Paz]

On 20/10/2019 at 13:15, Raph-in-the-sky said:

Would it help if I used my 250mm Dob instead of the 114mm? 

If you have an aperture stop for the larger scope that may work well - then you have no spider vanes in the light path plus a slower focal ratio which might make for better contrast. I stop my dobsonian down often for certain targets.