Astrophotographers Mark Your Calenders

[Speed]

On June 5th, Venus will transit the sun. I took photo's of this event back in 2004 and posted some of them here on PR. I have already marked my calender and plan on taking the day off to photograph this one as well. The next one won't happen for 105 years.

Venus to Dance Across Sun in Rare June Skywatching Treat | 2012 Transit of Venus | Skywatching Venus Transit & 219th American Astronomical Society Meeting, AAS219 | Space.com

[mattb]

Thanks for the info! Can you share how you got your shots last time? I'm thinking long lens with a strong ND filter, yeah? How long? How strong? These are pretty cool and even cooler when you think we won't see this phenomenon again in our lifetimes. Thanks!

[Eric D]

Nice info!

[Speed]

Thanks for the info! Can you share how you got your shots last time? I'm thinking long lens with a strong ND filter, yeah? How long? How strong? These are pretty cool and even cooler when you think we won't see this phenomenon again in our lifetimes. Thanks!

Hey Matt, I post a reply in VF, but I'll repost it here as well.

I took my Venus transit shots with my Nikon N80 (this was a couple of years before I went digital) shooting slides (Sensia 100 as I recall). My N80 was attached to my Celestron C8 telescope, so I had a 2032mm lens.

You never want to look at the sun without the proper protection, so verify that your ND filter is going to be strong enough! I have a solar filter for my C8, so observing/photographing the sun isn't an issue for me.

I think 300mm will give you decent photo's, with a very discernable disk crossing the sun's face. If you're unsure, take some photo's of the moon. The full moon is about the same (apparent) size as the sun, so photo's of the moon will give you an idea of how big the sun will be. You can also buy/borrow/rent a tele-converter or a longer lens as well.

I'll add that my buddy and fellow photography Brian and I were up before the sun to photograph the 2004 transit, as it was already underway when the sun rose. Unfortunately for us, the sun was up nearly an hour before it broke through the clouds that day. I am hoping for good weather this year, as I will be taking the day off to photograph it. It won't happen again for 105 years, and since I turn 50 this month, I don't expect to be around for the next one!

[Speed]

Nice info!

Thanks Eric. Hope you can get some shots of it.

[Speed]

Neutral density filter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The last paragraph is the important one. Also, the sun is about 100 times brighter than the moon, so you literally are looking at needing a ND256 or ND 512 for adequate protection. Of course, you can always stack two filters on top of each other to achieve the desired protection.

The good news is, once you have a ND filter strong enough to observe the sun with, you can take photo's of solar eclipses, and sunspots, so it's not like it would be a one time use. The sun is currently ramping up toward solar maximum, predicted to peak in 2013, so sunspots will be numerous. And Mercury transits the sun in 2016.

[paulnj]

oh great, do I need to come down to NC that week ;-)

[Chanticleer47]

Thanks for the article and the info. Do you know how long the transit will last?