It was only for two hours and the Sun was playing hide and seek behind the clouds. And when the cloud parted slightly and the Sun was more or less visible with Mercury as a tiny dot on the top corner, there was a huge sigh of relief and the enthusiasm returned.
The Regional Science Centre and Planetarium in Kozhikode had made special arrangements for the public to watch the much hyped Mercury transit over the Sun at the Kozhikode beach.
Though the transit was quite visible from 4.30 p.m. onwards for around 30 minutes, the accumulation of more clouds prevented the view later.
Disappointment was clear in the faces of around 100 science enthusiasts who had gathered at the beach to watch the spectacle.
The RSC had set up three telescopes to aid the watching. One was a 11-inch GPS controlled reflecting telescope while another was a 6-inch refracting telescope.
Special filters
The RSC had prepared special filters to equip them to watch the Sun. In addition, there was a Coronado Solar telescope with inbuilt filters that is used solely to watch the Sun. Moreover, a screen was set up where the image was projected for all to watch.
However, the clouds played spoilsport for some time and even the RSC authorities gave up on the effort after some time.
They had already packed away two telescopes when the cloud suddenly parted giving a fairly good view of the Sun and Mercury as a tiny little black dot on it.
“This is an excellent time for those who want to undertake studies on Mercury. It is usually not that clearly visible. Now with the Sun as the background, it is well defined,” said K.M. Sunil, an RSC official.
The Mercury Transit happens fourteen times in a century, but is rarely visible from the Indian coast. Next time it will be visible from India only in November 2032 and hence the enthusiasm to watch it this time.
