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  • Mercury passes behind the Sun

    From Gerald Kelleher@21:1/5 to All on Mon Oct 9 23:57:12 2023
    https://sol24.net/data/html/SOHO/C3/96H/VIDEO/

    With observational experience, Mercury traverses from right to left when it is behind the Sun slower than when it passes from left to right when it is closer to the Earth in its circuit of our parent star. It removes the distraction of parallax and
    shifts perspectives to the annual change in the position of the stars parallel to the ecliptic as a function of the Earth's annual motion.

    The satellite tracking along with the Earth must be lagging quite a bit considering Mercury is presently coming into view but then again, such observations, interpretations and conclusions would only interest solar system researchers.

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  • From Gerald Kelleher@21:1/5 to All on Tue Oct 10 23:11:13 2023
    Around the same time as the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth in its monthly circuit of our planet, Mercury will be passing directly behind the Sun in its annual orbit of our parent star.

    https://sol24.net/data/html/SOHO/C3/96H/VIDEO/

    https://www.theplanetstoday.com/

    Keeping in mind that the satellite won't always be around, there is so much information available from a single sequence of timelapse that I cannot help feel dismay amid the excitement of this new perspective of heliocentric astronomy that any student
    at a high school level could appreciate.

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  • From Gerald Kelleher@21:1/5 to All on Tue Oct 17 03:05:04 2023
    https://sol24.net/data/html/SOHO/C3/96H/VIDEO/

    Because Mercury passes behind the Sun frequently, several observations are now possible.

    The Earth and Mercury are on opposite sides of the Sun in our respective orbits when the faster-moving planet moves from right to left while our world travels in the opposite direction on the other side of the Sun.

    The frequency allows for variable orbital speeds to be observed with each different pass, and currently, Mercury appears to pass slower from right to left than at other times.

    When Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun, it moves considerably faster, just as watching cars passing at a closer distance across the frame of a window will appear quicker than cars at a distance crossing the same window frame.

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