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Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

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  • Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

    Streaming from Hawaii:


    Streaming from Arizona. This one has live talk re astronomy.


    Streaming:
    Join us as we track the final time that Venus will cross the sun in our lifetime with tidbits of history, snatches of science and scraps of literature to enhance the viewing • All times ET MORE: Highlights from this live blog


    Looks like the Nasa site gives brief video clips.


    This page is part of NASA's official eclipse home page.




    Next transit is in 105 years, 2117. 13 times in 1,000 years.

    The transit or passage of a planet across the face of the Sun is a relatively rare occurrence. As seen from Earth, only transits of Mercury and Venus are possible. On average, there are 13 transits of Mercury each century. In contrast, transits of Venus occur in pairs with more than a century separating each pair.

    The last Venus transit was in 2004 so the second event of the pair will occur on Wednesday, June 6 (Tuesday, June 5 from the Western Hemisphere). The entire event will be widely visible from the western Pacific, eastern Asia and eastern Australia as shown in Figure 1. Most of North and Central America, and northern South America will witness the beginning of the transit (on June 5) but the Sun will set before the event ends. Similarly, observers in Europe, western and central Asia, eastern Africa and western Australia will see the end of the event since the transit will already be in progress at sunrise from those locations.
    Last edited by SkyvanDelta; 06-05-2012, 03:59 PM.

  • #2
    Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

    By luck, I just saw it live.

    My neighbor across the street set up his telescope out in front of his house. He has it set up on it's tripod to project an image of the sun on a sheet of white cardboard propped up on the ground at an angle maybe 2 feet away, sort of like you would do for an eclipse with a pinhole camera. The telescope produced a much larger image though.

    He had another large sheet of cardboard attached on the large end of the telescope acting like a sun shield, with just the end of the scope protruding through a snug-fitting hole in the middle. This sheet projected a shadow on the white sheet on the ground for better image contrast.

    The sun appeared as a dim circle about 6 or 7 inches across on the cardboard "screen", with Venus a little 1/4" black dot in the upper left quadrant, around the 11 o'clock position.

    I didn't ask, but he may have also used some kind of darkening filter. I say so because I tried to repeat his set-up using a pair of binoculars in my backyard, but the sun appeared glaringly harsh and bright, making me see spots like a flash bulb.



    It just seems a little bit interesting until you consider that the tiny black dot is another planet, bigger than Mars and nearly as large as the Earth. That really gives one a new perspective.


    And there are beautiful women there too! Just ask Abbot and Costello!
    Last edited by AirDOGGe; 06-05-2012, 06:10 PM.

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    • #3
      Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

      I got a damn nice look at the transit here in NZ, we got the full event here where i am, looked amazing through a solar scope
      race fan, photographer with more cameras than a camera store

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      • #4
        Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

        Bananarama published the VENUS in 1986...same year as the Voyger flew around the globe...does this mean something...planetary alignment ???





        I missed it here.
        http://max3fan.blogspot.com/

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        • #5
          Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

          I got some good pics of it yesterday from the top of Mt Tam. I'll post them in a few days, I've got 500 other pics to weed through and edit from last weekends Sonoma Historic Motorsports festival at Sears Point already loaded into Lightroom. That NDX400 filter is proving useful. Now I just wish I had a bigger lens to go with it.

          Will

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          • #6
            Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

            Cloudy and overcast here in Park City, UT - but it showed through just enough now and then to get some direct photos without special filters.
            Attached Files
            DB

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            • #7
              Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

              Thanks...that is really cool..it was seen in Lapland on a 1 kilometer high Mountain just about 01:05 AM.
              http://max3fan.blogspot.com/

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              • #8
                Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

                Here is what I shot.






                Can't see Venus, but sort of a cool shot.


                Will

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                • #9
                  Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

                  NASA's Solar Dynamics Laboratory got a front row seat and captured the best footage of the transit I've seen anywhere:

                  [YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iObeCF7NQYE[/YT]

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                  • #10
                    Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

                    Makes one feel very small including Venus. WOW
                    Lockheed Bob

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                    • #11
                      Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

                      Yep. Considering Venus is nearly as large as Earth, it really gives one perspective as to how massive the Sun truly is, especially considering that planet is 67 million miles away from that famous star behind it.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Venus transits the Sun, Tuesday starting at 3:04pm PST for 5 hours.

                        Originally posted by Lockheed Bob View Post
                        Makes one feel very small including Venus. WOW
                        Indeed! Almost scary to watch... how lucky we are to have wound up on a planet JUSSSST the right distance from... and....

                        That is some amazing footage with some of the filters they used!
                        Wayne Sagar
                        "Pusher of Electrons"

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