Hinode witnessed Mercury Transit
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G-band image obtained with Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on 2006-11-08 19:14 UT, just after the second contact.
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Mercury marched in front of the Sun from 19:12 UT on November 8 to 00:09 UT on November 9. Mercury was seen as a round-shaped shadow on the Sun. The Mercury Transit was observed in Asian countries including Japan in the morning of November 9 local time. Hinode, which is put on a Sun-synchronous orbit around the Earth, observed the event without atmospheric distortion.
Movie of G-band images
Close-up movie
Note: Images presented in this page are raw data before calibration. Pointing drift is not compensated in the movie.
Time sequence of X-Ray Telescope (XRT) images before the first contact
Image in spectral line Fe XV (28.4nm) obtained with EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). Solid curve indicates solar limb.
X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) found the shadow of Mercury in coronal X-ray images prior to the first contact. These precious data are also used to determine the small pointing offset among three telescopes on board Hinode.
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