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Media Advisory 06-030

Mercury to Transit the Sun

Celestial event can be seen live via webcast

This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.

An edited image from the OSPaN telescope shows the relative size of Mercury compared to the sun.

An edited image from the USAF Optical Solar Patrol Network (OSPaN) telescope at NSF's National Solar Observatory, in Sunspot, N.M., depicts Mercury's (the black dot between the cross hairs) approximate relative size as it transits the sun on Nov. 8, 2006. Mercury will have an apparent size of about 1/200th the apparent diameter of the Sun. The image was made Nov. 1, 2006, and the position of "Mercury" on the solar disk does not correspond to the transit path. Transit images will be available at http://nsosp.nso.edu/data/latest_solar_images.html.

Credit: AFRL and NSO/AURA/NSF


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