Venus transit

[Padfield]

This is nothing whatsoever to do with butterflies but I'm sure a lot of members will be keen to view and/or photograph the imminent Venus transit so this is just a kindly prompt!

In 2004 Venus made her first transit since 1882 and I'm sure many UK Butterflies members thoroughly enjoyed that! Then, it happened during the day and I was able to show the phenomenon to my students at school:

http://www.guypadfield.com/venus.html

On 6th June, at about dawn, she will cross the sun again (that is, from the UK the only visible part of the transit will be its end, just after sunrise), not to repeat the trick until December 11th, 2117! To view this historic event you need to have a clear sight of the sun pretty much at dawn and it won't last for very long. For that reason, a bit of research will be necessary before the big day unless you live somewhere with a clear all-round horizon. It's a good idea to practise projecting the sun beforehand too, so you don't have to learn the tricks on the day!

More details can be found here:

http://www.transitofvenus.org/

Guy

[Susie]

Thanks, Guy. Fascinating

[Dave McCormick]

Thanks Guy, will have to watch for that one!

[Pawpawsaurus]

The transit of Venus was the subject of an interesting Radio 4 programme last night, as part of their Frontiers series.

It's available online here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01j5nx1

Paul

[Padfield]

After beautiful weather yesterday the clouds moved in during the night. I got up at 04h30 to see if it was worth making the long trip up to the Col de la Croix but by 05h00, as dense, high cloud drew over the sky like a duvet, I accepted that it wasn't. By sunrise it was raining. BUT I did enjoy live views from other parts of the globe via http://events.slooh.com/ on the iPad from the comfort of my bed before getting in another hour's sleep.

I hope some of you were able to enjoy the rare spectacle in a more direct way.

Guy

[Dave McCormick]

Couldn't see it here either, heavy cloud and rain this morning.

[David M]

Absolutely no chance in south Wales. It was appalling when I got up at 5.30 this morning and got worse before it improved after midday.

[Charles Nicol]

i watched it in bed via a Spanish webcast from Spitzbergen in Norway

this is a good compilation of various filtered films of the event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akvs-LIgcsw

Charles