Bobby Coggins
Publisher & Editor
MaconMedia.com
May 9, 2016
FRANKLIN, NC -- A relatively rare transit of Mercury will occur today and the entire event is visible from Franklin, provided you have a telescope and the proper solar filters to watch. The last transit happened on November 8, 2006 and the next one will happen on November 11, 2019.
WARNING: Never look directly at the sun without special equipment.
If you do not have the proper equipment to observe the transit, don't despair. Several amateur astronomer and astronomy-oriented organizations will be streaming the event live online, and links to each event has been included below for your convenience. You will probably have to sign up for a free account in order to observe the event on Livestream unless you watch on a Roku, Apple TV or Fire TV over the set top box.
Sky and Telescope
SLOOH Community Observatory
Sky for All
Griffith Observatory
SC State Museum
2017 Solar Eclipse Information
And, of course the event of several lifetimes will be happening next August as the path of a total solar eclipse will cross Macon County, with the center line passing just south of Nantahala Lake and exiting Macon County near US-441 South at the Georgia line. There are several online resources to assist you in preparing for the event at the links below:
Sky and Telescope
2017 Solar Eclipse Website (the best one stop resource on the internet)
NASA Eclipse Website (the best place for geeks because it has the data)
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