Mercury Transit Viewing at UCLA - November 8, 2006
The UCLA Planetarium hosted a telescope viewing of the Mercury transit on November 8, 2006. On the afternoon of November 8th, the planet Mercury crossed the face of the sun. The next transit of Mercury won't happen until 2016. More information about the timing of the transit and the locations where the transit was visible can be found at the NASA Mercury Transit site.
The transit viewing began at 2:30 PM and lasted until 4:10 PM. Starting at 2:30pm, there were three planetarium shows at half hour intervals about Mercury and the transit. We used our 14" telescope and 10" telescope on the 9th floor of the Mathematical Sciences Building with solar filters to safely view the transit.
In short, the transit viewing event was a huge success! We were far too busy to count, but we estimate roughly 200 people came up to view the transit. Thanks to everyone who came out to partake in this astronomical wonder! For those who were unable to make it, we have posted below an image taken from our 10" telescope near the end of the transit.
Image from the Transit
Picture of Mercury as viewed through our 10-inch telescope at about 4:05 PM PST.