Camping out in Whitianga to witness Mercury in transit

Just after sunrise this morning an astronomical event is taking place that has extra significance this year. The transit of the planet Mercury moving across the sun happens around 13 times every century. And it's that event 250 years ago that gave Te Whanganui a Hei, or Mercury Bay on the Coromandel Peninsula, it's european name, when Captain Cook berthed there so an astronomer on board could observe the event. Astronomers from all around the country have been in Whitianga at an all night party waiting for the sun to rise. Among them is the director of the Otago Museum, Ian Griffin and I spoke to him a short time ago.