The Planet Venus appeared to move across the face of the sun late yesterday afternoon. The last time it occurred was June8, 2004. Transits of Venus are among the rarest astronomical events. They occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years.
Although the skies were not very co-operative yesterday afternoon, I decided to take a chance and see if I could glimpse the event through my 8″ Telescope, equipped with a solar filter. With just a bit of luck I had about 2 minutes of viewing time.
In 2 minutes I lined up the scope right at the sun, focused the eyepiece and snapped just one picture
I have to say, viewing it for yourself is a very different feeling than viewing it on television or reading about in newspaper articles. So if you missed seeing the event yesterday you will have to wait till December 8, 2125 to view it here in Connecticut. There is one other Venus Transit that occurs 8 years prior, however it will not be visible here in CT. Your best bet is to travel to the Far East
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Thanks Tom, for reminding us to take the time to enjoy the awesomeness that surrounds us.
Nice post Tom. I agree with PatRiot, he asp very eloquent.
Was, darn I-Pad
Tres cool!
and Nobama can’t take credit for it.
Actually I think Nullbama took valuable time out from his busy schedule of soldering the information pipes at the White House (fixing those pesky leaks) to blow just enough hot air into the clouds to make them dissipate a bit to afford Tom the glimpse of the Venus transit.