Transit of Venus - June 5 2012

[Moonliner]

Venus will be making a rare transit of the Sun on June 5th.

2012 Transit of Venus (http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/transit12.html)


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.


If want to see it, now is the time to order a set of Solar Glasses. (http://www.amazon.com/The-Eclipser-Flares-Safe-Glasses--Certified-Pack/dp/B007C7C4L2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335966405&sr=8-1)

[blueerica]

I think we'll be picking up some o' dem glasses, thankyouverymuch!

[lashbear]

If want to see it, now is the time to order a set of Solar Glasses. (http://www.amazon.com/The-Eclipser-Flares-Safe-Glasses--Certified-Pack/dp/B007C7C4L2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335966405&sr=8-1)

You're Right! Amazon should have orders shipped to Australia by December 11, 2117. :p

...seriously, Stoat & I are NOT ordering the glasses too. American Paper Optics, LLC won't ship to us. :(

Time to look elsewhere.

[alphabassettgrrl]

A pinhole viewer can be useful. I'm not sure if the image will be large enough to see Venus, but it's worth a try.

[€uroMeinke]

Yes, but can you see it in 3D?

[alphabassettgrrl]

Depends on what drugs you're taking?

[JWBear]

Anyone else think "Transit of Venis" would make a good band name?

[SzczerbiakManiac]

totally!

[Moonliner]

You're Right! Amazon should have orders shipped to Australia by December 11, 2117. :p

...seriously, Stoat & I are NOT ordering the glasses too. American Paper Optics, LLC won't ship to us. :(

Time to look elsewhere.

How many would you like and what's your mailing address? (via PM if you like...)

[lashbear]

PM Sent.


PS: The proper spelling for the header should have read "Yor An Ice Man". Sorry for the Tipo.

[Moonliner]

Reminder...

Tomorrow is the day!

Good viewing everyone!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Dang, forgot about this, and we ditched my cereal box contraption.

I might try using binoculars to project an image.

[katiesue]

Pin hole in a shoe box works. Or it did for the eclipse.

[Moonliner]

Venus appears a lot smaller than the moon, I don't know how well the projection method will work but it's worth a try.

[lashbear]

In 12 hours is the day for us. We will be attempting to view the transit from 11am - 2pm EST.

I say attempting, because as at this very moment (10:39pm 5th June) the forecast is as follows:

Full Article (http://www.thesundaily.my/news/398715) ...forecasters have put a dampener on expectations of seeing Venus cross in front of the sun.

A major storm front was closing in on Sydney Tuesday, bringing gale force winds and torrential rain, which are set to extend into Wednesday.

The storm front is right here in Forster, right now, and the gale force winds and torrential rain are my lullaby. I hope something changes before tomorrow and the forecasters meant extends into the wee small hours of Wednesday morning with sunshine and clear skies from 9am... :rolleyes:

[lashbear]

In other news, I am seriously wondering if any of our palms or ferns will still have leaves in the morning ?!?!?!? :eek:

[Moonliner]

In 12 hours is the day for us. We will be attempting to view the transit from 11am - 2pm EST.

I say attempting, because as at this very moment (10:39pm 5th June) the forecast is as follows:



The storm front is right here in Forster, right now, and the gale force winds and torrential rain are my lullaby. I hope something changes before tomorrow and the forecasters meant extends into the wee small hours of Wednesday morning with sunshine and clear skies from 9am... :rolleyes:

I hope you get a chance to see it but either way save those glasses for November!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Venus appears a lot smaller than the moon, I don't know how well the projection method will work but it's worth a try.

Online sources say it should work.

[Moonliner]

*pooh*

It's looking "mostly ruined" for the transit here on the bitter east coast.

[blueerica]

We are cloudy and stormy, once again...

[Alex]

Sad...it is a beautiful day here and I don't give a damn (unless something comes up and I happen to be in Tokyo again with minimal effort required to view).

I'll take a picture of the sun for those who can see it from home.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Starting now on the west coast.

[katiesue]

not seeing much with my pinhole box so far. Tried the CD method and I see nada.

[Alex]

And as promised, here's a picture of the sun. Enjoy the show.


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7239/7343123890_a4992c0fd0_b.jpg

[JWBear]

I saw it! I saw Venus!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Still a couple hours until max, plenty of time to experiment.

CP is trying to use binoculars as a projector, I'm sure she'll report.

[katiesue]

I've got Maddie home with the binoculars. But apparently Dance Mom's is on so she can't be torn away right now.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Duh, mom.

[cirquelover]

I am trying with a pin hole in a paper plate but no luck so far.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Binoculars are not really working. If I go for a clearer but smaller image, it's way too tiny to view the dot of Venus. If I go for a larger but fuzzier image, a sheet of paper is too textured to see anything. Maybe a whiteboard? Hmm...

[Ghoulish Delight]

Obvious husband is obvious...but have you tried adjusting the focus on the binoculars for the larger image?

[katiesue]

We got the binoculars to work. Well Maddie did. I was out there with the neighbor and his boys and we maybe saw something. (Not really but we gave up). Maddie did it in about 4 seconds. Pretty clear.

[Betty]

We tried binocs for the recent eclipse and couldn't get it to work. What's the trick?

[katiesue]

paper about 12 inches away. It's sort of more of a shadow reflection rather than a straight through circle of light. I'm not sure how to describe it. I was putting the paper too far away. Right now it's a fairly clear spot - that kind of looks like a spec on the paper but it moves if you move the image so it's not.

Very technical no?

[Morrigoon]

dang, we don't have any :/

[Ghoulish Delight]

CP got it to work. Pretty damn cool.

[katiesue]

I've gotten more rolleyeyes in the last hour. I go check it every 20 mins or so. I've been dubbed crazy.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Here's a photo of her awesome results.
1682

[Moonliner]

*Whew*

Saw it! Just by the hair of my chinny chin chin.

Literally moments before first contact the spotty holes in the clouds closed up completely. So we hopped in the Mrs. Moonie mobile and set off on an adventure. We chased the holes in the clouds for close to two hours and managed to find one 5-min window where we had a good view. Using the binoculars with solar glasses duct taped over the primary lenses I had a great view before the clouds closed in again.

[€uroMeinke]

My eyes hurt

[lashbear]

We saw it for about 5 minutes. Enough for me to spot Venus, but Stoat couldn't. Turns out he was looking for something more like an eclipse. When I showed him CP's photo he said ''That spot? is that it?'' I think he felt ripped off. Cairns is looking like a better and better idea.

[Moonliner]

We saw it for about 5 minutes. Enough for me to spot Venus, but Stoat couldn't. Turns out he was looking for something more like an eclipse. When I showed him CP's photo he said ''That spot? is that it?'' I think he felt ripped off. Cairns is looking like a better and better idea.

It was tough to spot with just the glasses. However you can assure the Stoat that the show in Cairns will be much more dramatic.

[innerSpaceman]

Actually, photos have made me fear the sun is too small if Venus looks that big against it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Forced perspective.

[Moonliner]

Actually, photos have made me fear the sun is too small if Venus looks that big against it.

Forced perspective.

Indeed. If you look at it to scale I'm sure you will feel much better.....

http://www.freemars.org/jeff/planets/planets5.png

[JWBear]

Indeed. If you look at it to scale I'm sure you will feel much better.....

http://www.freemars.org/jeff/planets/planets5.png

How did Pluto get in there?! He's not allowed hang with the rest of the planets anymore.

[cirquelover]

Why ya hating on poor Pluto?

I still think he belongs but I'm old school like that:D