Nick Ciccone/Herald
By Nick Ciccone
Students at the Clear Stream Avenue School used solar viewing glasses to see Mercury’s movement across the sun on May 9, a phenomenon that occurs fewer than 15 times every 100 years. Chris Fernandez, a Clear Stream parent and volunteer at the Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project, a nonprofit education program, set up sophisticated telescopes and monitoring equipment in the school’s front yard. He explained to students that the path of Mercury in front of the sun is similar to a solar eclipse, but since the planet is much farther from Earth than the moon is, a telescope is required to see it take place. The next Mercury transit will be in November 2019, and won’t happen after that for another decade.
