Transits of Mercury on 7 May 2003, and of Venus on 8 June 2004

1er mai 2003 Transits of Mercury on 7 May 2003, and of Venus on 8 June 2004

On Wednesday 7 May 2003, the planet Mercury will pass in front of the Sun, and its disk will be visible like a small circular black spot on the solar surface. This event occurs nearly every 7-10 years. This transit will be visible from Europe, Africa and Asia, and plays the rôle of precursor for the transit of Venus next year, a much more spectacular event, and more rare (the last transit of Venus dates back to 6 Decembre 1882 !) The Paris Observatory will be open on the Bd Arago side from 9h to 13h to welcome the public who will enter by the gardens (near IAP, Institut d’Astrophysique, 98b Bd Arago.

The public and staff will observe the Mercury transit, with the help of the astronomers.

1- With a coelostat, the Mercury image will be projected on the internal wall of the coupole who served to make the "sky map" in the past, building number 10.
2- The public will observe with the telescope of the "sky map" coupole (3,60m focal length) Mercury by putting one’s eye to the objective.
3- There will be a connexion Web/BASS2000 in the coupole, to see the above site.

Exceptional seminar on the history of Mercury transits-
The planet transits are used for the detection of extrasolar planets. It is in particular one of the objectives of the space mission COROT which will be launched in 2005 at Kourou.

Know more

See the site of IMCCE for the transit of Mercury on 7 May 2003, and for that of Venus on 8 June 2004. See the site of ESO for the transit of Mercury on 7 May 2003, and that of Venus on 8 June 2004.