Trip down memory lane - Venus Transit from 2004

[iceman (Mike)]

Thought this was funny.

I'm currently working on an article for IceInSpace about the Transit of Venus, which happens in June 2012.

The last transit was in June 2004 - at the very first days of my interest in Astronomy - before IceInSpace as a community site had even begun. I wrote this article in June 2004 when IceInSpace was still my little homepage

I hope my images of the 2012 transit are better than the ones here

Venus Transits the Sun!

What are your memories of the 2004 transit?

[mishku]

"For the next one, I'll definitely have my telescope and a nice solar filter"

.... and a self-made community of your thousand-odd nearest and dearest astro buddies!

[h0ughy (David)]

The Newcastle Astronomical Society was lucky enough to have organised a public viewing at Horseshoe Beach Car Park where it was broadcast live by our local ABC radio. With crowds of over 500+ and the radio broadcast it was a fantastic event. It was at a time when we all wished the equipment was better suited and the cameras weren’t so basic. Was great to watch and like you mike – very basic shots. I arrived early as I could to set the gear up and then after the banners and exclusion zones were set we just waited. The local outside broadcast crew arrived about 30 minutes before the afternoon programme was due to start and set up directly behind me. It made for some interesting conversations with the presenters being able to see live (on the back of the camera screen) the transit. Our then club president was interviewed and took questions, but the public flocked in and around which at times was becoming very distracting. While I think public outreach is great – when it is a major event like this next time I will be very selfish and keep it to myself so I can concentrate on the event in full.

[iceman (Mike)]

Nice one Dave!

Does anyone know if you can see the transit naked eye with eclipse shades?

I know it'll be small, but I thought you could probably see something.

[rmcconachy]

Probably too small unless you have exceptional vision. However, binoculars with solar filters work fine. That is what I used last time. I was working so I packed my 15x70 binoculars and solar filters in the car and headed out of the office every now and again (near the start, a few times in the middle and near the end) to have a look. I tried showing a few other people but none of them could get the hang of aiming the binoculars with the filters on (they needed a background they could see to zero in on the target, aiming the binoculars correctly straight off or slowly panning around are obviously concepts that require a little practise or a better teacher than me).

[gary]

Hi Mike,

Time passes rapidly. Some pictures I took at the time here -
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au/venus.html

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by gary

Hi Mike,

Time passes rapidly. Some pictures I took at the time here -
http://www.wildcard-innovations.com.au/venus.html

funny how we all look younger nice shots

[Groboz (Gino)]

Originally Posted by iceman

Nice one Dave!

Does anyone know if you can see the transit naked eye with eclipse shades?

I know it'll be small, but I thought you could probably see something.

I saw it at sunset on the Darwin foreshore. A combination of a smokey horizon (from seasonal scrub fires) and good sunglasses made seeing it without other aids relatively easy. In fact it looked just like the photo above from memory. It was comfortable and no eye damage because I just had an eye check a couple of months ago.

[Lester]

This brings back memories Mike. I took an image of the transit similar to yours through cloud. It made the front page of the Port Lincoln Times.

[Mick (Michael)]

Shared the afternoon with my family, we were fortunate to have wonderful weather for this event. The attached photos from the day makes me smile and realise how lucky me and the missus are. Davy is 21 in a few weeks, AJ is 19 and little Steve is 17, driving a car and in the first year of a fitter and turner apprenticeship.

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Originally Posted by iceman

Nice one Dave!

Does anyone know if you can see the transit naked eye with eclipse shades?

I know it'll be small, but I thought you could probably see something.

Yes, indeedy, you can! This was something that got me when I saw it - while Mercury is quite small and you definitely need optical aid to see it, Venus is huge in comparison. I remarked at the time (in an article published in the late Sky and Space magazine) that you really got a sense of the motions of the planets. Hmm, might have to go dig that article out now...I'd forgotten all about it!