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The Transit of Mercury

By 12 May 2016June 2nd, 2021No Comments

ArticleMercuryTransitMay2016a

On Monday this week a celestial event occurred that was celebrated at Sharples using our Singadia Observatory. The transit of Mercury happens between every nine and twenty years and occurs when the planet Mercury, closest to the sun, passes across the Sun’s disc during the day. To safely view the transit you need special filters for your binoculars or telescope and so we invited our local primary schools, St Paul’s and The Oaks, to come along and watch it with us. Our GCSE astronomy group first gave us a presentation and quiz on the theory behind the transit before taking the young students out to the observatory to use the telescopes (see picture). The event was enjoyed by all!