Has Jupiter aligned with Mars?

June 8, 2004 10:24 PM

Venus Transits the Sun. Some really gorgeous pics of this rare stellar event.
posted by WolfDaddy (10 comments total)

Very cool. And if it's good enough to make it onto Google's logo, it's good enough for me.
posted by fishbulb at 11:28 PM on June 8, 2004

Great stuff. The next event I'm looking forward to is Cassini's arrival at Saturn!
posted by homunculus at 12:19 AM on June 9, 2004

Sky & Telescope article including images from the 1882 transit.
posted by yonderboy at 12:57 AM on June 9, 2004

So pretty!
posted by riffola at 3:32 AM on June 9, 2004

Thanks, WolfDaddy. I love APOD!
posted by grateful at 8:58 AM on June 9, 2004

I couldn't be arsed to go out and look at this yesterday, cos it was too damn hot, and now I feel really stupid that I didn't. These pictures do something to make up for it.
posted by Orange Goblin at 10:05 AM on June 9, 2004

Why isn't Venus opaque ?
posted by marvin at 1:03 PM on June 9, 2004

The link behind 'rare' is actually a picture of Mercury's recent traverse across the disc of the sun. Venus is one link deeper.
posted by kfury at 3:40 PM on June 9, 2004

Why isn't Venus opaque ?

Most likely a slight overexposure, light bleeding in from around the edges. Keep in mind that Venus is rather small in front of the sun, and the sun is incredibly bright.

Also, in the first link, there's clouds/fog in the way, which are probably causing it to look translucent.
posted by CrayDrygu at 6:48 PM on June 9, 2004

Yes, you're not seeing light through Venus. You're seeing light scattered by material between the camera and Venus. That plus exposure or brightening.

I actually hauled myself out of bed before sunrise for once and had quite good weather for the transit. Fourth contact occurred two hours after sunrise in my neck of the woods. I brought my solar-filter equipped telescope to a nearby mountaintop along with a couple of dozen other amateurs, and at least a hundred people came to view the transit.
posted by Songdog at 7:52 PM on June 10, 2004