Under a clear sky, College of Western Idaho faculty Dr. Irwin Horowitz and Dr. Ehab Marji, adjusted a powerful telescope at the Nampa Campus Academic Building to view the transit of Mercury across the face of the sun on Monday, Nov. 11.
“This was my third Mercury transit, and I always find it fascinating to observe the motion of a solar system object, because most of the time objects in the sky appear quite static,” said Horowitz. “When Mercury transits the sun, we are able to see the planet move across the disk of the sun for a few hours.”
The next time this celestial event will take place is in 2032. Horowitz and Marji discussed the historic event with visitors – many people were surprised at how tiny Mercury looked as it passed the sun.