Sun Screen
A transit occurs when a planet passes in front of the disk of a star. As seen from Earth, only Mercury and Venus transit our star, the sun. During a transit, there is a slight dip in the amount of solar energy reaching Earth, which can be found using this equation:
B% = 100 ( 
)
)B = percentage drop in the brightness of the sun
r = the radius of the planet as it appears from Earth (in arcseconds)
R = the radius of the sun as it appears from Earth (in arcseconds)
With many solar-powered satellites orbiting Earth, it’s important to know what impact a dip in solar energy might have.
If 1,360.8 w/m2 of solar energy reaches the top of Earth’s atmosphere, how many fewer watts reach Earth when Mercury (diameter = 12 arcseconds) transits the sun (diameter = 1,909 arcseconds)?
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