Cosmic, dude!!!*
*That was a comment I made in response to a recent post at the blog of my "cyberbud" Libby Gone™.
On Wednesday, November 8th, (today) the planet Mercury will cross in front of the Sun for about five hours beginning around 2:15 p.m. ET. It won't happen again until 2016.
(Silhouette of Mercury against Sun)
Of course on the East Coast the Sun will set before the show is over, but on the West Coast it can be seen in its entirety...without commercial interruption.
(Unless it's obscured by clouds, that is)
The transit means that for those who are prepared, Mercury can be seen in broad daylight, appearing like a tiny spot moving across the sun.
The viewing of this celestial event cannot be accomplished with the naked eye; it would require a specially filtered telescope.
They have such a one locally, at the Franklin Institute in my hometown of Philadelphia, PA.
(Which is named in honor of Ben Franklin, naturally)
This is even more rare than "once in a blue moon"...
On Wednesday, November 8th, (today) the planet Mercury will cross in front of the Sun for about five hours beginning around 2:15 p.m. ET. It won't happen again until 2016.
(Silhouette of Mercury against Sun)
Of course on the East Coast the Sun will set before the show is over, but on the West Coast it can be seen in its entirety...without commercial interruption.
(Unless it's obscured by clouds, that is)
The transit means that for those who are prepared, Mercury can be seen in broad daylight, appearing like a tiny spot moving across the sun.
The viewing of this celestial event cannot be accomplished with the naked eye; it would require a specially filtered telescope.
They have such a one locally, at the Franklin Institute in my hometown of Philadelphia, PA.
(Which is named in honor of Ben Franklin, naturally)
This is even more rare than "once in a blue moon"...
posted by camojack | 03:52
9 Comments:
Far out! Literally!
So do you think those on the West Coast would really stop trying to remove the speck from the lens long enough to see the event???
Beerme:
No doubt. :-)
JR:
Well, they got 5 hours...or had, anyway.
"On Wednesday, November 8th, (today) the planet Mercury will cross in front of the Sun for about five hours beginning around 2:15 p.m. ET. It won't happen again until 2016."
LOL! Really????!?
Is that your best effort to avoid the election results and the implications? You probably didn't even vote. Congratulations ...! What a "thumpin" that was.
postage_stamp:
Since you apparently haven't been paying attention, I post on all sorts of things here...and usually not politics.
But regarding your off topic comment, one word: veto...
Scaredy cat. Afraid to leave my comments up.
What a mature population you have in the U S of A.
Delete delete delete ...!
postage_stamp:
Scaredy cat?! How old are you?
(Speaking of maturity)
I deleted the previous comment because of bad language. Use it, get deleted; it's pretty simple, really.
(Ditto for insults)
As for your assertion that I pay no attention to politics, you have no idea what you're talking about...
Yeah! I heard about those guys! Aliens from the planet Mercury... they sell insurance I think. Check it out HERE!
(:D) Regards...
Hawkeye®:
I used to drive a Mercury; I'll bet they'd insure that, huh?
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