transit

Mercury Transit May 9th

 in Blog  tagged Mercury / solar observing / sun / transit

Starting at about 4AM (U.S. west coast time), the planet Mercury will cross the face of the Sun.  I’ve never photographed a Mercury transit before, but captured the above Venus transit back in 2012.  Mercury has such transits much more frequently than Venus, but it also appears as a smaller disk. If you’re not interested enough to get up at 4AM, don’t worry, the transit doesn’t end until 11:39AM.  However, you do have to worry about safety in observing the transit.  Unlike a solar eclipse, the Sun will appear at full brightness and you wouldn’t be able to see Mercury […]

Transit of Venus

 in Gallery / Solar System  tagged solar system / sun / transit / trees / venus

On June 5th, 2012 Venus crossed between Earth and the Sun. This will not happen again until 2117, so while it is not the most exciting astronomical event, it is quite rare.  This shot was taken through a “solar filter” that greatly reduces the brightness of the Sun, making it possible to see not only the silhouette of Venus, but also several sunspots. The trees, however, are somewhat fake. It is not possible for us to see anything so dark as these trees at the same time as these details on the surface of the Sun, although they really were […]