laurent2015
190 posts
May 14, 2012
5:41 AM
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On next June 5 and 6, due to a perfect alignment sun-venus-earth, we'll have the opportunity to observe in live a transit of planet Venus passing in front of the sun.
Next transit will occur in 105 years, so: no current alive human beeing will be able to see the phenomenon again.
Though Venus is about 110 millions km far from the sun, you'll be able to compare the sizes Sun/Venus, and as Venus is almost equally sized to the earth, you'll figure what means : the sun is 1 million times more voluminous than the earth.
Another spectacular point: the earth on its orbit crosses the space around the sun at about 107000 km/h; well Venus goes faster around the sun...even if the transit will last more than 6 hours.
Now, thanks to trigonometry and geometry, the genius of past astronomers made possible to reckon sun-earth distance (150 millions km) at the time of previous Venus's transits.
Practically.
Amateur astronomers know what to do, but for the other interested people:
1° U.S. The START of the transit occurs at 6PM on East coast and at 3PM on West coast ON JUNE 5: you'll see just a part of the phenomenon (till sunset).
2° AUS. They will be able to see the entire transit from 8:15 AM to 2:45 PM ON JUNE 6.
3° EU They will be able to see the end of phenomenon (more than 1 hour, though) at sunrise ON JUNE 6.
Other details.
Public observatories seem to be yet overbooked.
The best would be to knock at an astronomy club's door: across the world, I'm sure none of them will miss the event.
Now if you own even a little telescope (up to now, to peer at the chicks in the neighbourhood) don't forget to use a SUN FILTER like Baader solar filters sheets that you attach to the lens (NOT to eyepiece) or possibly on the dust cap.
Good luck to everyone, and don't forget to swich on your preferred Blues music at full blast during transit!
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FreeWilly
220 posts
May 14, 2012
5:50 AM
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I hope someone bumps this thread the 4th or something. I always look forward to these things and then forget about them.
Thanks Laurent!
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bluemoose
741 posts
May 14, 2012
3:05 PM
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http://www.transitofvenus.org/june2012/eye-safety/281-six-ways-to-see-the-transit-of-venus
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MBH Webbrain - a GUI guide to Adam's Youtube vids
FerretCat Webbrain - Jason Ricci's vids (by hair colour!)
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nacoran
5673 posts
May 14, 2012
3:35 PM
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I plan on being alive in 105 years! Best laid plans of mice and men...
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Nate
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MP
2261 posts
May 14, 2012
4:17 PM
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cool, i'll be on the lookout. BUMP!
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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laurent2015
243 posts
Jun 02, 2012
10:17 PM
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Well...good luck with the weather.
As for Belgium, doesn't look promising!
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Miles Dewar
1260 posts
Jun 03, 2012
12:17 PM
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Don't forget to view the lunar eclipse right before sunrise THIS morning!
3am Pacific time.
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garry
224 posts
Jun 03, 2012
5:22 PM
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@nacoran: live forever or die trying.
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Steamrollin Stan
422 posts
Jun 04, 2012
2:19 AM
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Best i check this one out otherwise i'll be 163 next visit and my eyes wont be as sharp.
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Miles Dewar
1262 posts
Jun 04, 2012
9:19 AM
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I'm kicking myself for going to sleep last night! Oh well, that might have been TOO much cool Astronomy stuff to handle! A solar eclipse May 20th, Space X's Dragon capsule docking with the ISS, an asteroid comin within The Moon's distance from Earth, lunar eclipse, AND a Venus transit, all within 3 weeks?! My head would have exploded!!!
Weather looks clear for Chicagoland tomorrow!
TRANSIT!!!!!!!
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laurent2015
244 posts
Jun 04, 2012
5:51 PM
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Hey, lucky guys!
Someone could take a snapshot?
I kept some from previous transit in june 2004...but for this one, I think it's definitely f.....up.
"Space X's Dragon capsule docking with the ISS,"
I think it was Atlantis of which mission was to fix Hubble? I could see the event nigh in live thanks to NASA's website, really impressive, grand memories!
Last Edited by on Jun 04, 2012 8:19 PM
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Miles Dewar
1264 posts
Jun 04, 2012
7:17 PM
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@Laurent2015,
I will be taking pictures throughout the event. I'll post some good ones on this thread.
NASA TV is always the best way to view missions online and Night skies network is a cool place to talk telescopes and observe.
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laurent2015
247 posts
Jun 04, 2012
7:40 PM
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Good idea! Try to capture the "drop effect" at the time of sun's edge touching ( called second contact, I think).
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bluemoose
753 posts
Jun 05, 2012
3:43 PM
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rain, clouds...hey it's Vancouver, what did I expect?
:(
MBH Webbrain - a GUI guide to Adam's Youtube vids
FerretCat Webbrain - Jason Ricci's vids (by hair colour!)
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Greg Heumann
1634 posts
Jun 05, 2012
5:39 PM
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I was able to see it with the naked eye, through 2 pair of polarized sunglasses - wear one pair, look through the other held at a 90 degree angle. WARNING - if your sunglasses aren't polarized this won't work - different pairs will do differing jobs of blocking enough light. Even at this it was pretty bright and probably not the smartest thing in the world, but I did it and it worked for me.
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/Greg
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Miles Dewar
1268 posts
Jun 05, 2012
6:46 PM
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@Laurent,
Here is a picture of the black drop effect:
http://a.yfrog.com/img878/8541/urtul.jpg
I'll update these pictures to something NOT on Twitter.
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Here are some direct links:
http://a.yfrog.com/img857/2256/awfae.jpg
http://a.yfrog.com/img875/6552/q9jtj.jpg
http://a.yfrog.com/img737/5112/oemhdm.jpg
Last Edited by on Jun 05, 2012 8:45 PM
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Miles Dewar
1269 posts
Jun 05, 2012
6:46 PM
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...
Last Edited by on Jun 05, 2012 6:48 PM
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laurent2015
249 posts
Jun 05, 2012
7:13 PM
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Good shot Miles.
That's a phenomenon within another phenomenon,really impressive!
I've seen black spots on your pics as well.
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Miles Dewar
1270 posts
Jun 07, 2012
8:52 AM
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Thanks Laurent. The sunspots look better through something NOT made by Apple. I will post a picture when I get done stacking ~800 or so.
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laurent2015
252 posts
Jun 07, 2012
4:12 PM
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What's the soft you use for stacking?
Thought it was useful especially for deepsky imaging.
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