Mercury Transit Unseen

With Mercury’s transit across the Sun occurring yesterday, I was unprepared as I did not have a solar filter for my Starblast. But I did remember have a solar lens for my trusty old Tasco that I’ve had since the early 1960s.  So, after a little rummaging around in the closet, I was able to bring out the Tasco with eyepiece and solar filter. And I saw absolutely nothing.  I think the solar filter had some kind of damage and absolutely no light could get through it.  So, I tried projecting the view without the solar filter onto a piece of paper but it was hard to know if I was properly focused, especially with the paper flapping about in the strong breeze. So, it’s possible I did see Mercury but I certainly wasn’t able to identify it.  I guess I’ll have to wait for its next transit on November 11, 2019 – let’s hope it’s a clear day.  But here is a quick video showing Mercury just beginning its transit of the Sun, courtesy of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.