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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Atlanta, GA | Posted: November 6, 2019
A. Maureen Rouhi, Ph.D.
Director of Communications
College of Sciences
Summary Sentence:
Telescopes on Howey Building roof offer chance to view rare celestial event on Nov. 11.
Full Summary:
On Monday, Nov. 11, 2019, the planet Mercury will pass across the disk of the sun. This planetary transit is rare, occurring only around 13 times each century. “This will be the last such event visible from Georgia Tech until 2049,” says James Sowell, director of the Georgia Tech Observatory.
Mercury Transit 2019 (Credit: NASA)
Mercury Transit 2016 (Credit NASA Goddard; YouTube video)On Monday, Nov. 11, 2019, the planet Mercury will pass across the disk of the sun. This planetary transit is rare, occurring only around 13 times each century. “This will be the last such event visible from Georgia Tech until 2049,” says James Sowell, director of the Georgia Tech Observatory.
The transit begins at 7:36 AM and ends at 1:04 PM.
Because Mercury is so small, its passage across the sun could be seen only with magnification coupled with the same safety precautions when viewing a solar eclipse.
The Georgia Tech Observatory will set up eye-safe telescopes in front of the Howey Building, by the Seven Bridges plaza, during the entirety of the transit. “The skies must be rather free of clouds in order to witness the event,” Sowell says.
For further information, contact Jim Sowell at jim.sowell@physics.gatech.edu.
The video on the right shows images from NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory taken during Mercury’s transit on May 9, 2016, between 7:12 AM and 2:42 PM.
