Star Points for November, 2006; by Curtis Roelle Rare Mercury Transit and Leonid Meteor Shower On the afternoon of Wednesday, November 8 the tiny disc of the planet Mercury will pass across the much larger disc of the sun. According to Guy Ottewell's Astronomical Calendar for 2006, 13 or 14 transits of the sun by Mercury can occur in a given century. It may not sound all that rare, but it really is. Of the seven Mercury transits that have occurred during my lifetime I've only seen one. Two others happened before I developed an interest in astronomy as a teenager. For the rest it was either cloudy or night time where I was and therefore the transit wasn't visible. Let me stress that viewing the sun without using safe techniques and equipment may be hazardous to your eye sight. Only persons with experience in solar observing should attempt to observe the transit using any direct means. The Westminster Astronomical Society is planning to observe the transit from the parking lot at Bear Branch Nature Center north of Westminster starting at 2 p.m. They will have properly filtered telescopes on hand and the public is invited to come watch at no charge. The transit starts at 02:12 p.m. when Mercury's tiny black spot begins to pass in front of the sun's southern hemisphere. The transit will still be in progress and a little over half over when the sun sets at 04:59 p.m. bringing and end to the show for local observers. The next Mercury transit will be in the year 2016. After grabbing a bite to eat you might want to return to Bear Branch at 07:30 p.m. that same night for the Westminster Astronomical Society's annual Telescope Buyers Workshop (TBW). This helpful program at the group's regular November 8th monthly meeting will be a valuable source of information for anyone considering the purchase of a telescope. With the upcoming holiday season such advice can be quite useful. This year's special guest at the TBW is Gary Hand of Hands On Optics in Damascus. Gary has many years of experience dealing in telescopes and knows many of the pitfalls to avoid. For more information about the meeting check the web site at westminsterastro.org. For an observing experience that doesn't require a telescope mark your calendar for this year's Leonid meteor shower on the night of Friday, November 17. The Leonids give occasional strong performances often with many bright meteors. This year's circumstances are particularly favorable. Not only does the shower occur near New Moon under a dark sky but it is also expected to peak on a weekend night. As with all meteor showers the best results can be expected after local midnight, so you might want to take a nap before hand. Although it peaks on Friday, the shower is expected to be active from November 14-21. With this edition Star Points begins its eleventh year. I want to thank you, the reader, for your continued interest over the past ten years and invite you to continue following events taking place in the night sky.