Mercury transit will be visible from Cyprus on May 9

One of the rarest astronomical events, a transit of Mercury across the face of the sun, will be visible in Cyprus on May 9.

Because Mercury and Venus are closer to the sun than the earth is, the two planets occasionally pass between the earth and the sun, performing something called a solar transit. According to NASA, this happens 13 to 14 times every century.

The phenomenon was last observed in 2006, but was not visible from Cyprus at the time, 1010Asteroskopeion, an organisation which promotes astronomy and science to the Cyprus public, said in a statement.

This year many skywatchers around the world will be able to see the transit. There are several contact times when it is recommended to observe the phenomenon. The first contact is at the beginning of the event and can be seen in Cyprus at 2.11pm, the second contact occurs when Mercury has completely made it onto the sun’s disk at 2.14pm local time. The greatest contact while the small planet moves across the sun is locally visible at 5.56pm. Two more contacts occur later on but are not visible from Cyprus as they are after sunset.

“Using a specialised safe solar filter is absolutely necessary to observe this phenomenon,” 1010Asteroskopeion warned, adding that “a failure to do so may cause irreversible damage to the observer’s eyesight or even blindness.”

Due to Mercury’s very small size the organisation recommends employing relatively high magnification.

During the event, 1010Asteroskopeion will have specialised safe telescopes set up on the roof of their organisation’s building which is open so that the public can observe and record the phenomenon. Entrance is free of charge.

1010Asteroskopeion is also available for any inquiries or advice on properly using amateur equipment or for general information on the phenomenon at 22-677727 and can be found at www.asteroskopeion.com

Fakas institutes also welcome all interested persons to observe the transit free of charge from their schools which will be open from 4pm until sunset. The phenomenon will also be projected on a screen. See www.fakas.com.cy  Tel: 99-131405

More about the event: http://www.space.com

 

 

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.