June 5th, Venus transits the Sun

ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,938 moderator
edited June 5, 2012 in The Big Picture
On June 5th, Venus will make it's way across the sun. Viewers in Hawaii and Alaska will have the best vantage points as they'll see the whole transit. Venus starts to transit the Sun about 1700 CDT.

If you're planning to watch the transit, you'll need special filters to avoid damaging your eyes. Should be kind of cool to see.

More info
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Comments

  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,245 moderator
    edited June 5, 2012
    Live right now.

    Remember, don't look at the sun directly, especially through magnifying optics. Proper sun filters or indirect methods of view are the only safe way of seeing this happen.
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,938 moderator
    edited June 5, 2012
    venus-transit-XL.jpg
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  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,245 moderator
    edited June 5, 2012
    Ian, is that your image? If so, what are you using?
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,938 moderator
    edited June 5, 2012
    Yes.

    I am working with my 1DsmkIII, 500m f/4 with 1.4tc. I have a Mylar solar filter. Right now, I have the camera tethered and I'm shooting from the shade lol3.gif

    venus-transit-1607-L.jpg
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  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,245 moderator
    edited June 5, 2012
    Wow! thumb.gif Are you going to make a time lapse of it?
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,938 moderator
    edited June 5, 2012
    David_S85 wrote: »
    Wow! thumb.gif Are you going to make a time lapse of it?

    I don't know yet. It's pretty friggin amazing and if I'd had it together, I'd have used a telescope. However, mine won't track with a camera body on it :cry
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  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,245 moderator
    edited June 5, 2012
    Ohh, too bad. But you're out there (or your camera is) doing the transit viewing. Good on ya for being involved. You will need to get a more robust tracker by 2117 to piggyback mount your camera to though.
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,938 moderator
    edited June 5, 2012
    I'm still watching and listening to the NASA Edge webcast. Those boys are at the top of Mauna Kea...they're making a lot of sense given they're at 14,000' ASL. What a beautiful place to be in addition to being a great place for science.

    venus-transit-1741-L.jpg

    In addition to talking about the transit, they're also discussing lots of other cool stuff. You can find it here. Sorry, these guys aren't as compelling a listen as Sandy Wood is lol3.gif
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