The full transit experience

Not having been "online" on the day itself, I have had a pleasant evening
reading everyone else's experiences of the Transit.

I took a half-day off work myself so as not to miss this unique event and
was lucky to have almost perfect conditions at Ashurst (just west of
Southampton). I used my trusty 12x50 binoculars to enjoy the show by
projection. It was fascinating to see the distinct black dot on the Sun's
disk and reflect that this was the first time anyone living had seen Venus
in this way.

Near the middle of the transit I found some suitable filtering material so I
could look at the sun with the unaided eye and, having picked out the little
black dot, say that I had seen the Transit with my own eyes.

Like others, I also looked at the "Digital interactive" views presented by
Sky and the BBC. Sky seemed to have a manually guided telescope and from
time to time fiddled with the magnification. BBC News 24 seemed to be
showing an image from binoculars or similar projected onto a wall - it was
white and grossly distorted although other posters have stated that the
"Beeb" went for something more hi-tech later on.

Unfortunately, my projection set-up does not give enough magnification to
claim to see the "black drop" effect, but it was noticeable that 3rd contact
seemed to pass very quickly to the point that Venus seemed half-way off the
sun, where it seemed to "hang" for some time. Perhaps this adds credence to
views expressed that the "black drop" is partly a resolution effect.

I take my hat off to those who timed the "contacts" to the second. With the
equipment I had, a timing to the nearest minute would have been a result and
I can see how the expeditions in the 19th century could have had
disappointing results.

One thing I have in common with Patrick Moore is that we are both musicians.
So, while the transit was in progress, I had a performance of Sousa's
specially written "Transit of Venus" march on my piano. Apparently written
about the time of the 1882 transit, I get the impression that its first
performance was actually a few years after this event, the work being
commisioned for the opening of an observatory. So, does anyone else know
whether this piece of music was performed anywhere else on Tuesday morning
or whether this could have been the only recorded occasion of Sousa's work
being played during one of the events it was named for.

BTW, without wishing to seem churlish, it has to be said that there is
reason why this march is not in the generally peformed Sousa repertoire
these days. It is a bit of fun, but not quite up to the quality of his more
often heard works...

The icing on the cake was that last contact was at 12:23 BST, just in time
for the 5 minute walk to the station to catch the 12:33 in for my half-day
at work.


In about 45 years I have seen men walk on the Moon, enjoyed the Voyager
spacraft "Grand Tour" of the planets (an opportunity that will not occur
again for something like 180 years), experienced the development of
astronomy and cosmology from dim views and wild guesswork to the amazing
observations we now have, seen a total eclipse of the Sun and now the
transit of Venus. It seems to be a uniquely privileged time to be an
astronomer.

And, of course, we can now share our experiences in this way rather than
having to wait weeks or months to read letters in journals or magazines.

Best wishes to you all from the beautiful New Forest (and never more so than
at this time of year).
--
- Yokel -
oo oo
OOO OOO
OO 0 OO
) ( I ) (
) ( /\ ) (
Yokel @ Ashurst New Forest
SU 336 107 17m a.s.l.

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