Moon Venus Conjunction

MOON VENUS CONJUNCTION Saturday's lucky catch was a crescent Moon and Venus conjunction - a beautiful sight early in the evening before both celestial objects set in the West. Cell phone camera settings were ISO 80, f2.2 at 1/4th second exposure.

Photos were captured with an iPhone 6+ camera on Saturday July 18th 2015. The bottom view is zoomed and processed using iMac's iPhoto. The time was 9:57 pm CDT. An hour later the objects were no longer visible. Sunset was around 9:17 CDT.

Man Eating Plant Creatures from Outer Space

DANGER! Don't touch that! Finger loss risk

MAN EATING PLANT CREATURES FROM OUTER SPACE
Perhaps, but today we are pondering the Venus Fly Trap, a plant that can eat raw meat. When did plants on Earth develop the taste for meat and perhaps the desire for flesh of large worms, arachnids and other insects?

Buy these plants at the flower market, but don't buy a big one! (unless you have a friend that can periodically check the belly of the plant if you go missing)

Hungry Venus Fly Trap eats hamburger

The process appears to have happened through evolution, when a specific type of plant could no longer find enough nourishment through the soil and then began to absorb nutrients through its plant body parts.

These plants are small now and take years to grow to maturity, but some bigger varieties inspire the imagination as to what their hefty appetites might consume.

It's interesting to note, during the day, the plants open their mouths to eat, but during the night, the mouths will close so they can sleep. This plant has eight hungry mouths.

Venus Jupiter Conjunction Ends

VENUS JUPITER CONJUNCTION COMES TO A CLOSE

 The Jupiter Venus Aldebaran conjunction comes to a close because its southern path puts it behind the skyscraper's south wall at Observatory Lab 50 and the project must be concluded. Lab 50 is used for celestial events rising in the East, northerly objects and star fields, and testing various Big Brain eyes.

In the small photo, at top is Jupiter, to the right of Jupiter is Aldebaran in Taurus, with Jupiter below.

At least three other stars are visible, some of which can be corroborated with the black and white photo.

The color photo was taken July 29th, 2012 at 04:01:46 am at f/2 with a CCD imager and a one second exposure (IE at 1.7). The ISO was pushed to 1,600.

The photo converted to black and white was taken at 04:04:31 am with the same imaging settings. The image is processed to see more stars through the heavy light pollution of downtown Taipei. Shown to the left of 101 is Auriga and Capella with the Pleiades at top right.

One might wonder why not continue to take shots like the small color photo...this was dangerously obtained by hanging out over the safety guard railing at a height of hundreds of feet in the air. Another reason the photo is small is because the CCD is hand held for this view and motion occurred during the exposure. To minimize the appearance of trailing, the image was reduced.

Venus Meets 101

SPECTACULAR VIEWS OF VENUS AT TAIPEI 101

THE CONTINUING  SAGA OF THE VENUS JUPITER ALDEBARAN CONJUNCTION AT 101

Photo 1 - Panorama

Photo 2 - Wide View

Friday July 27th 2012 

Photo 3 - Zoom

Photo 1 The panoramic view in photo 1 was shot in the early morning of July 27th, 2012 at 3:22:06 am, with a Canon Powershot S95 at 1 second exposure (2 EV) with a 28mm f/2 lens and ISO 1,600 shows a rich field of celestial sky objects - from top: the Pleiades star cluster, the planet Jupiter, the Hyades star cluster, Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus the Bull, Capella in the constellation Auriga. Note the position of very bright Venus to the immediate right of Taipei 101. Click on the photo to see the full panorama. 

Photo 2 The next photo shows a wide view shot in portrait format obtained earlier at 3:20:12 am. These first two images were at 1080 x 1920 1.2MB and screen shot for reduction.


Photo 3 The zoom is highly detailed at f/4... and perhaps the most dramatic with Jupiter, Aldebaran, and Venus poised immediately next to Taipei 101 (at the right side aboub 3/4th of the way towards the top).

Jupiter Venus Conjunction Widens

JUPITER VENUS CONJUNCTION WIDENS

Along with more stars and the return of another UFO!

All observations made at Humanoido Lab Number 50.

Wednesday July 25th 2012 3:53:18 am

Clear skies returned this morning to reveal the stunning Jupiter Venus Aldebaran conjunction above the Taipei 101 skyscraper.

The event was double spectacular as another UFO buzzed the surrounding sky for a short time. This time, the UFO made a wide sweeping pass and did not appear to land behind the Skyscraper 101 as some UFOs did in the past. It's believed some type of landing strip is located there, although it was confirmed that the conventional airport is located in another direction.
 

The earlier time at 3:53:18 revealed a darker sky and more stars, thus showing constellations Taurus the Bull and Auriga with the bright star Capella (to the left) more clearly. The small cluster of stars located about three fourths of the way toward the top is the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. In the photo with trailed star images, clearly the elongation of the UFO follows the path of a different angle.

The favorite imaging settings for this type of view are Program, ISO 1,600, 2 EV, f/2, no zoom, 1-second exposure, 1064 x 1600 727K image format with AWB in JPEG setting. A 28mm lens was used for this hand held shot. The first photo does not show the UFO.

The second image shows the UFO located directly above the 101 Tower. It appears elongated or saucer shaped on its North-bound trek. Numerous images were obtained showing the object moving across the sky.


 

Photos have no guiding from the hand-held camera. To capture these images, the author must hang out of the skyscraper several hundred feet above the open ground to avoid the building obstruction to the south. The entire process is a bit risky but result in very good images. Pieces of the this obstruction are visible in some photos at the right side.

The third photograph shows the unidentified object changing position again, moving from right to left. This shows the elongation of the object most clearly as the stars are not trailed. Photos were pre-processed with Apple iPhoto using enhancements: Exposure, Definition, Sharpness, and De-noise. The fourth photo shows another UFO change in position towards the North.

The final photo shows an enlargement of the UFO with saucer shape and a plume appearance directly to the top. The visual view of the craft exhibited some noted red color lights at times, not seen here in this photo.

Sky Haze Experiment with Venus Jupiter Conjunction

SKY HAZE EXPERIMENT WITH VENUS JUPITER CONJUNCTION

SATURDAY JULY 21ST 2012

4:39:40 am

This test exposure is maximum processed to show clouds and haze (at top of photo) that was not visible to the naked eye. It's obvious that on nights of this typical haze, which apparently is often, the limiting magnitude takes a reduction hit. Planets shown are Jupiter and Venus next to Aldebaran in the Hyades star cluster in the constellation Taurus the Bull. This is a screen capture from the original 1016 x 1529 (752K) image. Exposed at 1/10th second, the ISO 1,600 image was at f/2 with a 28mm lens without zoom, using a Canon PowerShot S95.

The next color photo shows a normalized enhanced conjunction view with two planets and three brighter stars including Aldebaran in Taurus (at right of Jupiter and Venus) and Capella (far left) in the constellation Auriga, visible in this early morning dawn view. The conjunction view shows less stars around 4:30 am due to the encroaching sky glow. However, earlier clouds prevented completely clear sky imaging. Refer to the previous conjunction images for the identification of stars.




 
In the next view, a kind of "Where's Waldo" of stars, shown at larger image scale, a maximum number of eight stars are visible. Two above 101, four at left, and three at top.

07.20.2012 Venus Conjunction Sky Map Experiment

Above right: Taipei 101, Jupiter, Venus, Capella in Taurus

July 20, 2012 Venus Jupiter Conjunction Sky Map Experiment

Constellation Auriga with bright star Capella

Friday morning was clear enough to capture Venus Jupiter conjunction and the most stars ever photographed in the early morning dawn sky. This experiment shows that a simple hand held camera shooting a very clear sky at high ISO ratings can create a "downtown" star map from a heavily light polluted high density populated city. This 1 second exposed (2 EV) image was taken at 4:20:06 am with settings of f/2, a 28mm lens, and ISO 1,600. No UFOs were seen during the sequence of observations. Enough stars are seen to clearly define the constellations. This view is screen captured from the original 1064 x 1600 pixel image. The star map is rotated to match the actual view of the constellation Auriga and the brightest star Capella, in the photo to the left of the Taipei 101 skyscraper. The photo shows the Pleiades star cluster, Venus, Jupiter, Aldebaran in the Hyades star cluster, and the constellation Auriga with the bright star Capella. A PowerShot Canon S95 CCD camera was used to obtain the sequential images in this study. The camera eye is recording numerous stars not seen to the naked eye view. To conduct a program of creating the aforementioned sky maps, a simple tripod is recommended. It may also be possible to go deeper on the exposure and this deserves continued experimentation. The Lab 50 is obstructed by a brick structure on the South, so for an all sky mapping project another lab is recommended, like Area 51 atop the skyscraper.

Taipei Taiwan Tiny Lunar Crescent Project

TAIPEI TAIWAN TINY LUNAR CRESCENT OF JULY 15TH

Sunday July 15th 2012 at 4:24:45 am local Taipei time

The second tiny lunar crescent is captured in this early morning Venus - Moon conjunction view, over Taipei 101.

The photo is a one second exposure (2 EV) at f/2 and ISO 1,600. The Moon is filtered by clouds, clearly showing the crescent phase in this 1X view.

Check out the only previous tiny lunar crescent shot earlier.
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/tiny-lunar-crescent.html

Moon Venus Dual Light Source

MOON VENUS CAPTURE

THE DUAL LIGHT SOURCE PROJECT

This same field conjunction image shows the planet Venus and the Moon together - exposed to reveal Moon light reflected from the Sun and from the Earth (earthshine), along with Venus light reflected from the Sun. The photo was imaged in telescope mode with a 1 second exposure (EV at 2) at ISO 1,600. The 28mm lens was zoomed (6-22.5mm) at f/4.9. Taken July 15th Sunday 2012 at 4:21:49 am local Taipei time. The combined digital plus optical zoom equaled 15X.

6 Objects Conjunction

Rare 6 Celestial Conjunction

SPECTACULAR 6 OBJECTS CELESTIAL CONJUNCTION

Sunday July 15th 2012 4:19:53 local Taipei time

 This is a rare recorded image of the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Aldebaran, Hyades, and Pleiades Cluster, Conjunction as seen next to the second tallest skyscraper in the world - Taipei 101.

All six celestial objects moved together on the morning of July 15th 2012. Seen on the original to the right is the Hyades Star Cluster (see map for Aldebaran and positioning).

Imaged at 4:19:53 am and shot with ISO 1,600 at f/2 with a one second exposure. The Canon PowerShot S95 has a CCD element and a 28mm lens. Although imaged before sunrise in darker skies, the great sensitivity of the CCD element collects sky glow, pre dawn light, and light pollution, creating a spectacular view including full visible clouds and a bright blue sky looking like daytime with a city skyline! This image was taken at the right moment, just when the clouds cooperated by making a clearing for the mentioned celestial objects. This event marks the first conjunction viewed with a combined set of 2 planets (Jupiter and Venus), 2 star clusters (the Pleiades and the Hyades), the Moon and a bright star (Aldebaran) in the Hyades Star Cluster in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Also visible but farther away is a bright star near the zenith.

Star map from John Walker's "Your Sky"

Star Map prior to the actual event shows the Moon in a slightly higher position. From top to bottom, the Pleiades, Moon, Jupiter, Hyades, Aldebaran, and Venus. Adapted from Your Sky by John Walker.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/

Related Web Software

Earth and Moon Viewer

Solar System Live: interactive orrery

Moon at Perigee and Apogee

Terranova: a new terraformed planet every day

Lucky Shot Venus Jupiter Conjunction

Lucky shot through clouds

BIG BRAIN PROJECT'S LUCKY CONJUNCTION SHOT

THIS IS A LUCKY SHOT showing the current Venus-Jupiter-Aldebaran Conjunction as the objects popped into view through openings in cloud cover.

Astro Image Details

The astro image was obtained at 4:23:12 am on Thursday July 12th 2012 with the Canon Powershot S95 eye at ISO 1,600 and a setting of f/2. The 1/2 second exposure recorded this pre-sunrise view of Taipei 101 with clouds illuminated by the city lights and a number of stars.

Processing
Processing is with Apple iPhoto 11 v9.2.1 running on the Big Brain's Right Brain with activated 724 processors. This is a screen shot from the original 2736 x 3648 5.2 MB JPEG image. (processing to reduce file size, increase contrast to 100, adjust white balance AWB, sharpen 95, adjust highlights 100, set shadows 9, increase definition 100, verify temperature 21, adjust exposure to 0.79, set saturation to 56 and de-noise at 33.

Celestial Objects

Venus is the lower brightest object. Venus is said to appear as a small crescent shape in a telescope at its current distance of 44 million miles. Jupiter is seen above Venus - the gas giant is currently 530 million miles away. Note the star just to the immediate right of Venus. This is Aldebaran in the Hyades Star Cluster, located in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Click on the photo for a larger image showing more stars in this early morning view.

Sky Chart
The star map is only approximate as the locations of Venus and Jupiter have changed. Note the small star cluster towards the top known as the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters.

Venus Jupiter Aldebaran Study

Venus Jupiter Aldebaran Conjunction

Venus-Jupiter-Aldebaran

NOTE: YOU CAN View this ongoing planetary conjunction of Venus and Jupiter with the star Aldebaran all throughout the month of July 2012.

IMPROVING CONJUNCTIVE VIEW STUDY

Tuesday July 10th 2012

Several factors improved images of the ongoing planetary conjunction with Venus, Jupiter and the star Aldebaran in the constellation Hyades. An earlier observation time led to a darker sky and better contrast and fewer clouds compared to the previous observation made the event appear spectacular. In this view, the focus is slightly offset to successfully make larger planetary dots and more accurately represent visual brightness levels. Jupiter is above Venus and the star is very close to Venus at the bottom right. The first photo shows both planets appearing very bright but does not come close to representing the human eye view which was spectacular. The star is barely visible in this view taken on July 10th 2012 at 4:24:36 am with ISO 1,600 at f/2 and 1.8th second exposure. This is a digitally enlarged snippet screen capture of the original 2594 x 3459 pixel 2.3 MB JPEG image.

Aldebaran to lower right of Venus

STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF CLOUDS & ATMOSPHERE PARTICULATES RELATIVE TO STELLAR EXTINCTION

In the next photo, taken at 4:27:49 am on July 10th, 2012, the star is clearly visible and most clouds have momentarily passed by this section of the sky. Cirrus clouds appear very light and tenuous although are very good at blocking stars - this is because the city of 8 million has many lights that can reflect off not only the bottom of the clouds but the atmospheric particulates. Keep in mind the clouds can absorb starlight, reflect starlight, and block out starlight with a shroud of reflective brightness. This image was captured with a Canon PowerShot S95 at Telephoto f/3.5 and 12.8mm focus. The 1/8th second exposure was combined with ISO 1,600 sensitivity to compensate for the encroaching sunlight. This is a screen shot snippet from the original 2736 x 3648 pixel 2.9 MB image.

Full Zoom & All 3 Conjunction Elements

ZOOM CAPTURE STUDY

In the Zoom Capture Study, full Zoom is set to include both planets and the star in the same FOV. This was shot at 4:36:16 am on July 10th, 2012. ISO was increased to 3,200 manually, and the 22.5 mm Zoom focus was combined with a 1/4th second exposure at f/4.9. This is a screen capture snippet from the original 2736 x 3648 pixel 3.4 MB JPEG image. The Zoom Capture is more suitable for measuring relative object positions. Due to the fast ISO and relatively fast exposure, this and similar images are made possible by merely holding the camera by hand.

OBSERVATIONS OBSERVATORY

These observations were made at Observatory Lab 50. The Lab is very convenient at it locates off an adjacent wing to Static Lab 49 where images are processed. For higher resolution on similar Zoom studies, shoot in RAW mode rather than JPEG mode to increase resolution and reduce artifacts.

Two more stars at left seen in between clouds

MORE STARS VS CLOUD COVER STUDY
At left in the image, two more stars are visible through clearing in the clouds. This was taken on July 10th at 4:27:21 am local time at ISO 1,600 with a 1/8th second exposure (no telephoto) and f/2 lens, using a Canon PowerShot S95 in 2662 x 3550 pixel 4.5 MB file size JPEG mode. The image is cropped and processed in this screen shot snippet.

GRAIN REMOVAL STUDY
Photographic grain at high ISO is removed with Apple iPhoto function. This effect further delineates the cloud to sky differential showing which areas of clearing will have the opacity to show better stellar and planetary viewing.

CONJUNCTIVE COVERAGE

This Conjunction is currently observed a total of four times. It was imaged on July 3rd, July 8th, July 9th and July 10th. Other days were overcast, cloudy or raining and observations were not possible.

Humanoido Labs List

http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/06/humanoido-labs-list.html

Other Observations of This Conjunction

Venus Conjunction 

Deep Camera Venus Experiment 

Venus Jupiter Conjunction Revisit 

Lab 50 Observatory 1st Astro Image

Venus Conjunction

Tiny dot at top right is a planet

BIG BRAIN'S EYE FOLLOWING VENUS CONJUNCTION

In continuing with the series of images showing the conjunction of planets Venus and Jupiter with the star Aldebaran in the constellation Hyades near the famous 101 skyscraper, this new view was captured on Monday July 9th, 2012. A Canon PowerShot S95 was handheld with 12.8mm telephoto focal length at f/3.5 and a 1/80th second exposure. ISO 500 was used for this view just prior to the rising sun. 101 is located to the East, as seen from Area 51. Area 51 is a Big Brain Observatory and Laboratory located very high up on a skyscraper rooftop peak and has viewing access to the entire sky. Previous conjunction images were obtain on July 3rd and July 8th. However, today, due to some cloud cover, only one planet is visible.

July 8th Image
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/veus-jupiter-conjunction-revisit.html

July 3rd Image
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/lab-50-observatory-1st-astro-image.html

Area 51
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/area-51.html

Deep Camera Venus Experiment

Star under planet Venus

EYE OF THE BIB BRAIN GOES DEEP WITH THE VENUS EXPERIMENT 

Who knows what mysterious things the deep camera eye of the Big Brain experiment may find when zooming in on the planet Venus to maximum magnification?

Using the newly released eye of the Big Brain, we explore the space around the image of the planet Venus on the early morning of July 8, 2012. 

The larger image scale of Venus shows a star below the planet. This enlarged image was shot "camera handheld" with a 15X telephoto at 1/15th second exposure and ISO 1600. Also visible in the enhanced photos are numerous other faint stars dotting the field of view. The photo was taken July 8th, 2012 at around 4:40 am with a Canon PowerShot S95 camera. The new Observatory Lab 50 is currently using the Eye of the Big Brain until the robotic telescopes are installed. 

More Venus and Lab 50 Links

First Venus Conjunction at Observatory Lab 50
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/lab-50-observatory-1st-astro-image.html 

Venus-Jupiter Conjunction Revist at Lab 50
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/veus-jupiter-conjunction-revisit.html 

Humanoido Labs List (with Lab 50 details)
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/06/humanoido-labs-list.html  

GT Telescope Venus Transit (from Space)
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/06/gt-telescope-venus-transit-first-light.html 

Venus Transit 2012 at Roof Observatory Lab 51
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/06/venus-transit-2012.html 

New Big Brain CCD Eye
http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/06/new-eye.html

Venus Jupiter Conjunction Revisit

VENUS JUPITER CONJUNCTION REVISITED

The Observatory Lab 50  revisited the early morning sky to find the Venus-Jupiter conjunction in the Hyades.

Finally after several days of overcast weather, the sky has cleared enough for new Venus-Jupiter conjunction photos. The photo was shot with a Canon PowerShot S95 at ISO 1600 (due to the brighter sky), 12.8mm, F3.5 with a 1/15th second exposure. Photo was taken on July 8th, 2012 at 4:41:21 am. This is five days later from the first conjunction image taken on July 3rd.

 


First Conjunction Image

At left is the first Venus-Jupiter-Hyades conjunction image taken a week ago (refer to the blog for more details) from Observatory Lab 50. This sky was much more clear and was absent of the Cirrus clouds, reaching a fainter limiting magnitude. This photo was captured July 3rd 2012 at 4:27:38 am - Taipei 101 and planets Venus (brightest) and Jupiter with the star Aldebaran in the Hyades Cluster. This is a rare twilight conjunction shot with a telephoto at ISO 6,400 and exposure of 1/20th second at F4 using a hand held Canon PowerShot S95.

http://humanoidolabs.blogspot.tw/2012/07/lab-50-observatory-1st-astro-image.html

Lab 50 Observatory 1st Astro Image

Early Morning: Rare double planet

& star conjunction seen next to

Taipei 101 in the Hyades Cluster

BIG BRAIN LAB 50 TAIWAN OBSERVATORY 1ST ASTRO IMAGE

This is the first astro image photo taken at Big Brain's Taiwan Lab Static Observatory (TSO) early this morning 

JULY 3RD 2012 AT 4:27:38 AM - Taipei 101 and planets Venus (brightest) and Jupiter with the star Aldebaran in the Hyades Cluster. This is a rare twilight conjunction captured at 4:30 am this morning. The telephoto was shot at ISO 6,400 with an exposure of 1/20th second at F4 using a hand held Canon PowerShot S95. This example shows great sensitivity to capture planets and bright stars with a hand held telephoto lens and a rather fast exposure of 1/20th second. This demonstrates the real potential for fast shooting entire digital star maps at F2 with a hand held camera and a dark sky. Closer inspection of this photo (at full size) reveals another star. This image is taken downtown in the heart of Taipei. The Taipei metropolitan area consisting of Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung, has a population of 6,900,273. Taipei is the political, economic, and cultural center of Taiwan.

Twilight The diffused light from the sky during the early evening or early morning when the sun is below the horizon and its light is refracted by the earth's atmosphere.

GT Telescope Venus Transit First Light

GT TELESCOPE FIRST LIGHT
New Genius Telescope Debuts First Light
The Rare 2012 Transit of Venus

GT Introduction
The Tri Moded GT Genius Telescope achieved First Light in a ceremony of dedication and commemoration on June 6th, 2012, during the rare Transit of Venus. Color imaging took part on Earth and part in space above the Earth’s atmosphere. (GT resides in two places at one time) 

Mission Objectives
In particular, the GT mission objective studied and imaged the solar radiation as filtered through the atmosphere of Venus, leading to a greater understanding of Venus, its atmosphere and greenhouse effect and how it can be applied to the Earth. Although the planet Venus is silhouetted against the solar disk, the objective is to study details of the Venusian atmosphere by observing the filtered characteristics of solar radiation and to better understand Venus.

GT Configurations

GT was put into the smallest diameter ratio at 1.5-mile aperture. The UP was kept variable and the Adjunctive Array was kept in Earth orbit. The Multi Mag Slider engaged in Multi Pass.

Flight Panel Heads Up Display
The new GT has a flight panel which serves as an instrumentation control panel and heads up display. This is a window into the particular image view and includes data about the telescope aperture in meters and inches, a six digit numerical window index, orthogonal measurement scales, a centering index, four static position markers, the observational selected object title, a description of what's visible, a description of the mission objective, the UP Universal Penetrator setting value, details regarding the specific Adjunctive Array, details of the Multi Mag Slider (MMS) arrangement, journey time in craft mode, distance to the object being viewed, and list of credits in no particular order.

GT Results
The powerful GT telescope is capable of massive image scale, as seen in this reduced image of Venus against the backdrop of the Sun. Minute image details show the Venusian atmosphere with solar radiation penetrating the outer chemical compositional layers as the planet moves across the solar orbit. Fine solar detail is instantaneously frozen in time. Full color is maintained throughout the image plane.

Operations
The GT Genius Telescope is operated by the Big Brain machine, a supercomputer with 100,500 processors of varying types. A cooperation exists between Humanoido, the Big Brain, the DSC Deep Space Center, the ULTRA Space Administration, and NASA.

Venus Transit 2012

Big Brain Machine view of Venus Transit 2012 - All photos copyright Humanoido

BIG BRAIN CAPTURES RARE TRANSIT OF VENUS

TODAY: Using it's robotic refracting 60mm AT telescope, the electronic Big Brain machine has captured a rare event - the Transit of Venus across the face of the sun. 

A transit of Venus occurs when Venus passes directly between the sun and earth.  This alignment is very rare, coming in pairs that are eight years apart but separated by over a century.

This happens when Venus passes in between the orbits of the Sun and Earth. This digital preprocessing image was taken about one hour ago, on Wednesday June 6th, 2012 at 11:49 am local time from Taiwan. As the sun rose, clouds and overcast completely intervened. During the time span from 11 am on into the afternoon, it suddenly cleared to a beautiful blue sky and the best images were captured. Previous atmospheric studies indicated such a weather pattern clearing was likely, and this held true.

Venus Transit 2012 Full solar view

To be on the safe side so as not to completely miss the event, numerous images were initially shot through the clouds. (The next Transit of Venus occurs in 105 years.) The 1st shown photo employed an 8mm Brandon Orthoscopic ocular for a solar "eyepiece projection" method of imaging. Projection distance averaged about 12-inches and a SONY DSC-T10 was used in automatic EI setting and magnifying mode with the super Steady Shot engaged. The projected full disc view with the 24mm FL ocular averaged around 8-inches in diameter. The large black dot is the planet Venus and the background is the Sun. Although Venus was slowly traversing across the face of the Sun, this slow movement was only noticeable in the time lapsed photography. The full solar disk image was obtained with a 24mm FL Meade ocular. Several sunspot groupings are just visible along with granulation.

June 5th, 2012 sunspots

A solar sunspot study was made in full color on the previous day of June 5th, 2012 at 4:43:48 pm local time, using ISO125 at 1/400 F5.6 to identify the position of solar spots, test the imaging results, obtain satisfactory full disk image size and resolution, position enlarged disc views, and lock down the setup and imaging procedures. (see June 5th photo)

June 6th sunspots during the transit

Approximately nine sunspot groupings are seen.

Note: no solar filters were used and the telescope was not aperture stopped down, however, the water vapor content of the atmosphere was extremely heavy, creating a layer acting as a reflective filter. (Taiwan is an island surrounded by ocean.) The telescope was set up on top of a very tall skyscraper overlooking the city, on a very heavy and stable concrete perimeter which has unobstructed views of the horizon in all cardinal directions. The telescope's temperature was monitored to avoid overheating and damage to optical, metal and polymer parts, as the image was safely projected and three cameras were used.

The image was received by a standard size clipboard mount with an Advanced Agro Double A A4 Premium sheet of photographic print paper of 210 x 297mm size at 80gsm. A small breeze at that height made keeping things in one place challenging. At one time, the telescope shroud was blown off during a break in astro imaging.

The two additional cameras were a Canon and Apple iPhone. Changes in heat temperature made periodic refocusing necessary for the most successful image sharpness. Several times, the SONY camera overheated and failed. Actual ambient temperature was around 95 degrees and in the sun directly the temperature rose to at least 120 deg. F on upwards to oven-like heat. To avoid heat stroke, the imaging session was suspended before event completion.

Images were downloaded to a Mac computer and preprocessed with Apple iPhoto using Edit, Adjust, Exposure, Contrast, Definition, Sharpness and Rotate. About 140 images were captured with the Sony camera and a set with a Canon Ixus 100 IS. Apple iPhone 3G held four images, primarily as a backup plan in case the other images underwent some anomaly phenomenon.

1994 OTM Venus Transit article image

The most recent transit before 2012 occurred June 8, 2004, and the next upcoming transits are in December 10-11, 2117, and in December 2125. As an interesting note, in 1992, the first issue of Observatory Techniques Magazine ran an article about time travel to the Transit of Venus in 2004 (page 10). It included a computer generated image of Venus moving across the Sun which looks remarkably similar in position to the actual 2012 image shown above. The now rare collector's copy of the first OTM issue includes articles about computer image processing, telescope systems design, Saturn's rings, time conversions, hints & techniques, and the astronomer's vision. Although color ink issues are discontinued, OTM occasionally appears as a free online version or available through special offering.

Work is progressing to montage the motion of Venus across the face of the sun with the AT telescope and to utilize the Big Brain's new GT Telescope in space to study the nature of Venus' atmosphere as it filters solar radiation.

The Big Brain machine retains a complete image archive of the 2012 Venus Transit from two telescopes and three imaging cameras.

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus,_2012
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus
http://www.transitofvenus.org/
http://venustransit.nasa.gov/2012/transit/index.php