Mercury – A Darker View

Mother Lode Mine

On a past visit to the area I had tried to find this mill building, I missed it by mere yards, a few trees away. This time I was going to succeed.

The Mother Lode Mine is a mercury mine in the Ochoco Mountians of central Oregon. Here cinnabar ore was crushed and roasted to release quicksilver that would have been used in the region’s gold mines.

First claimed as a gold mine in 1899, mercury was discovered in 1900, mining continued off and on under various mining companies until 1968. Total production was likely around 352 flasks, or about 2,900 pounds of mercury.

Mercury at Maximum Elongation

An evening conjunction of Mercury, Venus and Jupiter on 30 May, 2013

Today Mercury is passing through maximum elongation, the furthest it will rise above the rising Sun in the dawn sky. After today the planet will slide back into the Sun’s glare headed for superior conjunction on January 10th.

This is a modest apparition, with the planet only 20° from the Sun.

Mercury Transit 2019

It was a clear predawn sky that greeted Waimea this morning, perfect to watch the transit of Mercury across the Sun.

The transit of Mercury on the morning of Nov 11, 2019

An alarm set for o-dark-thirty and a drive to Waimea with the first glow of dawn behind the mauna. I did not have to pack a ‘scope as I would be using an observatory outreach telescope, just make sure I have camera gear ready.

Realistically I was expecting only a few folks in addition to the club members I knew were coming. A light crowd maybe? Thus I was rather surprised to find the parking lot filling quickly and our big conference room buzzing at 6am.

It was quite the crowd considering the Sun had not yet appeared over the shoulder of the mauna!

Mercury at Inferior Conjunction

Today Mercury is passing through inferior conjunction, passing between the Sun and the Earth. This fast moving planet will reappear above the dawn in about a week, rising towards maximum elongation on November 28th.

On this particular conjunction the planet will transit the Sun.

This will be a modest apparition, with the planet reaching only 20° away from the Sun.

Mercury Events for 2019
Apparition	Date	Elongation	Magnitude
Evening	Feb 27	18.1°E	-0.2
Morning	Apr 11	27.7°W	+0.6
Evening	Jun 23	25.2°E	+0.7
Morning	Aug 9	19.0°W	+0.3
Evening	Oct 20	24.6°E	+0.1
Morning	Nov 28	20.1°W	-0.3
Data from the Mercury Chaser’s Calculator by John Walker

A Reminder on Safe Solar Viewing

With the transit of Mercury on Monday a reminder on how to view the Sun safely is in order. I have posted on this subject many times in the past and maintain a full post on the various techniques one can use to safely view the Sun.

Scott in the Sun — Scott showing folks the Sun with a white light solar filter

Since Mercury is quite small you will want a bit of magnification to view the event properly. If you do not have a good solar filter for your telescope come to a local event where telescopes are available.

On Hawaiʻi island you can either go to the W. M. Keck Observatory HQ in Waimea or Subaru Observatory HQ in Hilo. Both observatories are hosting transit events at dawn Monday morning 11 Nov, 2019.

These events start at 6am with webcasts of the transit from other observatories further east, with the Sun rising far enough to see the transit from 7-8am.

Transit of Mercury Nov 11, 2019

On November 11th, 2019 Mercury will transit the Sun. While transits of Mercury are not rare, they are not all that common either. The last transit was a few years ago in May of 2016. On average there are fourteen transits of Mercury each century or one every seven years. If you wish to observe one the situation is much better than transits of Venus which occur in pairs over a century apart.

Mercury Transit 9May2016 — Mercury transiting the Sun on May 9, 2016. Celestron C8 and Canon 6D at f/10.

This particular transit will favor observers in Europe, South America, and the eastern seaboard of North America where the entire transit will be visible. Unfortunately for observers in the islands only the final hour and a half of the transit will be visible having begun well before local dawn. Sunrise will occur around 06:28 for the island of Hawaiʻi, with the transit ending at 08:04 in the morning when the Sun will be 20° above the horizon.

Mercury at Maximum Elongation

Today Mercury is passing through maximum elongation, the furthest it will rise above the setting Sun in the evening sky. After today the planet will slide back into the Sun’s glare headed for inferior conjunction on November 11th.

This is a good apparition, with the planet over 24° from the Sun at maximum.

Mercury at Superior Conjunction

Today Mercury is passing through superior conjunction, passing around the far side of the Sun as seen from our earthbound vantage point. This fast moving planet will reappear in the sunset in about a week, rising towards maximum elongation on October 20th.

This will be a good apparition of mercury reaching over 24° from the Sun.

Mercury Events for 2019
Apparition	Date	Elongation	Magnitude
Evening	Feb 27	18.1°E	-0.2
Morning	Apr 11	27.7°W	+0.6
Evening	Jun 23	25.2°E	+0.7
Morning	Aug 9	19.0°W	+0.3
Evening	Oct 20	24.6°E	+0.1
Morning	Nov 28	20.1°W	-0.3
Data from the Mercury Chaser’s Calculator by John Walker

Mercury at Maximum Elongation

This is a modest apparition, with the planet only 19° from the Sun.

Mercury at Inferior Conjunction

This is a modest apparition, with the planet reaching only 19° away from the Sun.

Mercury Events for 2019
Apparition	Date	Elongation	Magnitude
Evening	Feb 27	18.1°E	-0.2
Morning	Apr 11	27.7°W	+0.6
Evening	Jun 23	25.2°E	+0.7
Morning	Aug 9	19.0°W	+0.3
Evening	Oct 20	24.6°E	+0.1
Morning	Nov 28	20.1°W	-0.3
Data from the Mercury Chaser’s Calculator by John Walker