Comments on: Has Jupiter aligned with Mars?

Has Jupiter aligned with Mars?

WolfDaddy — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 22:24:47 -0800

Venus Transits the Sun. Some really gorgeous pics of this rare stellar event.

By: fishbulb

fishbulb — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 23:28:29 -0800

Very cool. And if it's good enough to make it onto Google's logo, it's good enough for me.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 00:19:10 -0800

Great stuff. The next event I'm looking forward to is Cassini's arrival at Saturn!

By: yonderboy

yonderboy — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 00:57:02 -0800

Sky & Telescope article including images from the 1882 transit.

By: riffola

riffola — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 03:32:07 -0800

So pretty!

By: grateful

grateful — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 08:58:19 -0800

Thanks, WolfDaddy. I love APOD!

By: Orange Goblin

Orange Goblin — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 10:05:28 -0800

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.

By: marvin

marvin — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 13:03:07 -0800

Why isn't Venus opaque ?

By: kfury

kfury — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 15:40:06 -0800

The link behind 'rare' is actually a picture of Mercury's recent traverse across the disc of the sun. Venus is one link deeper.

By: CrayDrygu

CrayDrygu — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 18:48:02 -0800

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.

By: Songdog

Songdog — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 19:52:08 -0800

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.