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.

Buy Telescopes in the Philippines

In the Philippines, there are lots of astronomy enthusiasts. Many of them are young people dreaming of owning a telescope and using it to "go where no one has gone before." Well, for most of them, the dream just remains a dream. The common problem is looking for a telescope to buy. It's a fact (at least as of this writing) that good telescopes can be hard to find in the Philippines. But the good news is that astronomy groups and organizations have stepped in to fill the void and help make telescopes more available in a country where food takes precedence over everything else.

Telescopes are a luxury in the Philippines but you only have to know where you can find them and then you can pick the right one for you, whether you're a beginner or an advanced hobbyist. For starters, some popular retail stores in the country like the outdoor sports store, Hahn, and sometimes, even National Bookstore, sell telescopes. These are usually refractors designed for land gazing, but you may come upon a fine 2 or 3 inch reflector that's more appropriate for star gazing.

In mall toy stores in the Philippines, you can also find maybe two or three small telescopes, but these will likely be just toys to encourage budding youngsters in the study of science. While you can always try to order a telescope online, the shipping expenses involved may not make that a practical move, unless the purchase is going to be funded by a corporate entity or institution. For telescopes for personal use that are affordable yet useful, you should go to individual dealers of local astronomy clubs. There won't be a lot of choices, and some will be hand made (especially the mirrors), but that's okay. They know their stuff and you can bet that you will also get reliable advice.

The astronomy/telescope community in the Philippines really revolves around the major national groups like the Philippine Astronomical Society (PAS) and the Astronomy League of the Philippines (ALP), but there are school organizations and regional/local groups that can point you to the right person. Information about them can be obtained from their websites and blogs like this one can be pretty useful in finding an astronomical telescope that you can buy.

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