A transit of Venus is a rare event during which Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun. During this event, Venus can be seen, using the proper equipment, as a small dot passing in front of the disk of the sun.
For more information visit The Transit of Venus Homepage
I photographed the transit using a standard 35mm SLR attached to a 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The telescope was fitted with an optical density 5 solar filter from Thousnad Oaks Optical. You will notice from the photo that I set up the telescope using an equitorial mount. As a result, solar north is, more or less, at the top in each photo.
I photographed the transit in Ann Arbor, MI ( 42.2742° N 83.7333° W ). It was well underway at sunrise, so I was only able to record the last hour of this event.
I have compiled the best photos into movie in Windows Media (658 kB) format.
You can view some of my still photos of the event by clicking on the links below.
| 6:31 AM EDT |
| 6:35 AM EDT |
| 6:58 AM EDT |
| 7:05 AM EDT |
| 7:13 AM EDT |
I performed some rather hefty calculations to be sure that I would get good pictures for this once (or twice) in a lifetime event. I've writen a Java application that does some of those for you. You can try it out here. This application is my own design, I make no warranty about how accurate the results may be. If you find it useful, send me an email. I just like to know that my code is productive.
All images on this page (still or animated) are my original creations. I reserve all rights to copy and reproduce these images. If you would like to reproduce these images, in any medium, please contact me at fubar@comcast.net
