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[GiF] Transit of Mercury 2016

Hi All,

today is a special day as you can see (using a telescope) that Mercury is between the Earth and the Sun. Where is it now you are asking? Well it is right here:

ClearAll[InAUunits, Mercury]
InAUunits[dist_] := QuantityMagnitude[dist, "AstronomicalUnit"]
sd = InAUunits@StarData["Sun", "Diameter"];
md = InAUunits@PlanetData["Mercury", "Diameter"];
Mercury[date_] := Module[{p1, p2},
  p1 = InAUunits@PlanetData["Mercury", EntityProperty["Planet", "HelioCoordinates", {"Date" -> date}]];
  p2 = InAUunits@PlanetData["Earth", EntityProperty["Planet", "HelioCoordinates", {"Date" -> date}]];
  Graphics3D[{Yellow, Sphere[{0, 0, 0}, sd], Black, Sphere[p1, md]}, Boxed -> False, ViewVector -> {p2, -p2}, ViewAngle -> 1.5*Degree, ImageSize -> 400, Lighting -> "Neutral"]
]
Mercury[Now]

enter image description here

The transition can be visualized like this:

dates = DateRange[{2016, 05, 09, 8}, {2016, 05, 09, 23}, "Hour"];
out = Mercury /@ dates;
ListAnimate[out]

enter image description here

Enjoy!
POSTED BY: Sander Huisman
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enter image description here - another post of yours has been selected for the Staff Picks group, congratulations !

We are happy to see you at the tops of the "Featured Contributor" board. Thank you for your wonderful contributions, and please keep them coming!
POSTED BY: EDITORIAL BOARD

Nice, @Sander Huisman ! Just added @Jeff Bryant suggestion and stacked the images:

dates = DateRange[{2016, 05, 09, 8}, {2016, 05, 09, 23}, "Hour"];
out = Mercury /@ dates;
Show[out, ImageSize -> 800, Background -> Black]

enter image description here
POSTED BY: Vitaliy Kaurov
POSTED BY: Jeffrey Bryant

Nice! i didn't think about that part. This image is 'taken' from the center of the earth, changing it to another position might be a nice addition as well but will involve some geometry I was too lazy to do...
POSTED BY: Sander Huisman
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