KOZHIKODE: Hundreds of people observed the transit of planet Mercury with the telescopes arranged on the beach by the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium on Monday. Regular visitors came on the beach for spending the evening got happier as they heard about the Mercury transit and the facilities to have a glimpse of the process.
The large crowd at the beach started flowing in at 4.30 pm and continued till 6 30 pm. Mercury transit is the phenomenon in which the planet will be seen passing across the sun. Mercury appeared as a dot on the solar disc moving roughly from east to west.
The event will happen 14 times in this century. The next one will be seen in India only in 2032. The last Mercury transit occurred in India 10 years back in 2006.
The planetarium has arranged three telescopes Coronado, Celestron and Carl Zeiss, here, on the beach to see the Mercury transit.
“A solar filter is also set along with the telescope as the sun cannot be seen directly with the naked eye,” said K. M Sunil, educational officer, planetarium.
It was technical officer Jayant Ganguly who coordinated the arrangements and all other settings.
Around 15 officials of planetarium were present on the beach to give instruction to the public related to the Mercury transit. Other than three telescopes a live projection of transit and facility for webcasting were arranged in the beach.
