Venus and Jupiter Together in Taurus on the Morning of July 5, 2012 - Philippines

Venus and Jupiter on the morning of July 5, 2012.

Venus and Jupiter magnified.

It's Independence Week in the US and there's been much talk about the co-called Thunder Moon (because of frequency of thunderstorms) on the 4th of July. Well, I didn't get to see that because of bad weather, but this morning, I looked out to the East and there was Venus and Jupiter together with Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus. Frankly, I've known these two planets have been there for a while, but it's only now I got the chance to take a look at the, soak them in and even take a few pictures with my iPad. Sure, the camera of the iPad 2 is wanting, but it can still take some good pictures of the sky, I must say. If you have a Retina iPad, then you can use that for better results. Anyway, enjoy these photos of Jupiter (the fainter object) and Venus (the brighter object).

Venus Transit of June 6, 2012: Eyepiece Projection Images

Venus Transit 2012 in post ingress. The Sun appears like an orange.

Venus in ingress.

Here are a few images of the transit of Venus (June 6, 2012). They are simple eyepiece projection images using a 3-inch classic Edmund Scientific reflector and a piece of cardboard. Times for ingress and egress were referenced from the Eclipses app for the iPhone/iPad. These images were taken using an iPad 2 from a Southern Tagalog city in the Philippines. Initial images during ingress were captured with foreground foliage partially blocking the sun, creating shadows. The inset shows Venus in visual ingress contact which occurred less than a minute after 6:30 am.

Note that these images are not representative of the actual appearance of the Sun's surface. The position of Venus of the Sun's disk is relative to the position of the camera. Most of the markings, apart from Venus and a few sunspots, are from shadows and the texture of the cardboard, which gives the Sun an artistic mottled appearance. The lines in the lower right corner of the following image are from the folds of the handheld cardboard onto where the images were projected. It's a simple set-up, but it does the job.

Venus Transit 2012. Projection on cardboard with shadows of foliage.

The transit of Venus of June 6, 2012 is the last one in the 21st century, with the previous transit occurring on June 8, 2004. The next transit of Venus will not happen until December, 2117 and the same month in 2125. So those who took the time to view this year's transit were lucky to have participated in an event that may occur only once in a lifetime.

Venus towards mid transit.

Attempts to use the Venus Transit app for the iPhone/iPad did not materialize due to the timer's failure to be available at the time of ingress. A message kept appearing that the counter will only be available during the actual transit (which was already happening). Mid transit was scheduled to occur at an altitude of 55 degrees and calculated by the Eclipses app to occur at 9:31:24 am in my current location.

Venus nears its exit.

Egress began some time before 1 pm. At this time, there were some discernible sunspots. As Venus continued its exit from the Sun's limb, it appeared as if a part of the Sun had been bitten off. At about the same time, NASA sent a tweet of an image of Venus exiting the Sun's face showing detailed features.

I didn't get the chance to take pictures of the final contact in egress since the iPad's battery ran out. But I had enough images of the event to use in this blog post, which was really my intention from the beginning. If you want to view or take images of the Sun using a similar method, just make sure you don't accidentally peer into the eyepiece. This method doesn't use any filter and the focused light of the Sun can burn your eye. You can also use some other paper. Try experimenting with white paper, even translucent paper. See what effects you can get.

Venus starts to exit the Sun in egress.

Venus exits the face of the Sun, which now looks bitten out of.

Venus bids farewell.

How the images of the Venus Transit 2012 were captured.

Partial Solar Eclipse over the Philippines - May 21, 2012 - FIRST LOOK

Projection of partial solar eclipse-  May 21, 2012; Manila.

Partial solar eclipse of May 21, 2012.

Here's a first look at the partial solar eclipse over the hills of Antipolo, the Philippines (morning of May 21, 2012). Further up in the northern latitudes, it's actually the much touted "annular solar eclipse of the year." But since the country is beyond the annular path, I had to settle with a partial with only around 40% (my estimate) of the sun obscured by the moon. But even so, it's still a fantastic sight to behold. It's not a common event and it's something that kids will appreciate and look back to as grown ups.

Baby appreciates eclipse.

I only had a cell phone camera and an iPad 2 with me and didn't have a filter to reduce the sun's glare, but fortunately, I found a way to photograph the eclipse. Two holes in the galvanized sheet iron section of the wash area of the house provided two excellent projection images of the solar eclipse. I had fun taking pictures, which I must say is even more exciting than taking them directly using a filter or a telescope. These photographs were taken at around 6:13 with an iPad 2. Enjoy these "first look" images of the partial solar eclipse of 2012 (annular up north in Japan and parts of the Asian mainland)!

Double images of the partial solar eclipse - May 21, 2012

Source of one of the wall-projected images of the solar eclipse.

Partial solar eclipse (May 21, 2012) - iPad 2; no a filter.

All photos by alvinwriter.

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