Astronomy with Inc: June 2012

6 June 2012

Venus Transit - An Experience

When I finished work early this morning, first thing I did was to take a snap of the Sun by covering my camera lens with a dense x-ray sheet. It wasn’t good enough. The picture of the Sun wasn’t really clear and I wasn't able to see the Venus.

I rushed home and took out the eclipse glass I created (by covering an X-ray sheet over my goggles). I wore my goggles and I was able to see the Sun clearly and most importantly a tiny little dot (Venus). For a moment I thought I imagined it!

Looking at the Sun and Venus through my own eclipse glass

Though I was able to see the Venus, I wasn’t satisfied with that. I needed to take a snap in order to preserve the moment. An idea struck me! I pulled out an old broken binocular and a cardboard. I made a circular hole in the cardboard and stuck the front end of the binoculars to it. I directed the binoculars to the Sun. Now the Sun light was passing through binoculars’ lens and the cardboard created a shadow around it.

Binoculars covered by the cardboard directed towards the Sun

I then placed an A4 sheet behind the rear end of the binoculars. Now the binoculars were creating a projection of the Sun. But no sign of Venus! After a lot of adjustments and focus, was finally able to see the Venus! And what’s better? I wasn’t just able to take a snap but a video as well.

Projection of the Sun from the Binoculars

I had to re-arrange the setup every few minutes due to the Sun’s movement in the sky. At around 9:00 IST a heavy wind blew away my setup and my binoculars were damaged beyond repair. I wanted to take snaps until Venus moves out of the Sun but unfortunately that wasn't possible.

Below are the snaps I took of the Venus Transit and also a video!