Most of the attendees were doubtless locals, drawn to Ames from various spots around the Bay Area. But two hardcore skywatchers came all the way from Spain.
Oscar Martin Mesonero and Pablo Gonzalez Pena are from Salamanca, which missed the entire seven-hour transit. The two came to California because they could see most of the transit from here, and because they figured the weather would cooperate.
"I'm an eclipse chaser," Martin Mesonero said, adding that he's planning to go to Australia to view a total solar eclipse this November.
He saw the 2004 Venus transit in Spain, but with relatively rudimentary equipment. He and Gonzalez Pena brought a bunch of high-tech, high-performance gear to California with them to document this transit, the last one they'll ever see.
"This is the first time I've taken good pictures and good video," Martin Mesonero said.
Back in New York, younger Venus observers were ecstatic as well.
Lauren Aldorody, 17, said there was just something extra special about watching Venus pass in front of the sun that sets it apart from other celestial events.
"This is probably the top," Aldorody said. "I haven't really seen much, just a few lunar eclipses, but this is way cooler."
SPACE.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz and staff writer Denise Chow contributed to this report from New York. Senior writer Mike Wall contributed from San Francisco.
- Venus Transit In Its Entirety | Time-Lapse Video
- The 10 Weirdest Facts About Venus
- Best Telescopes for Beginners | Telescope Reviews & Buying Guide
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6 Comments
Add CommentI am seriously asking a question, so don't bag on me too badly. Does't the "transit" require a decidedly earth centric view of the universe? Venus does revolve around the sun continually, and it is only the earth's position that makes this a big deal right?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell who ELSE is gonna care? :)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUntil we find them, our perspective is the ONLY intelligent one in the universe; until they tell us "never mind", we're the Ones!
The larger point is the future application of transit data to distant star systems in the hopes of finally getting that Second perspective!
Page 1 of the article calls the Black Drop Effect and optical illusion. This is a misnomer. It is an optical effect. Optical illusions are neurological phenomena which occur only in the perception of a viewer. The Black Drop Effect is not illusory, but a real physical phenomenon.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@jbairddo @promytius Well, transiting is an objective phenomenon in the sense that it involves a certain alignment (i.e. inferior conjunction occurring at the points where planet orbit planes coincide) that all observers can agree on, even if they do not observe it for themselves. There are lots of other transit opportunities in the solar system -- see http://blogs.plos.org/retort/2012/06/05/transits-of-earth-from-other-planets-2/ for a nice discussion. I'll agree, though, that an extrasolar planet transit falls into a different category, because it is not an alignment within an individual system, but random happenstance.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@theDunedan That's a very good point.
@jbairddo @promytius Well, transiting is an objective phenomenon in the sense that it involves a certain alignment (i.e. inferior conjunction occurring at the points where planet orbit planes coincide) that all observers can agree on, even if they do not observe it for themselves. There are lots of other transit opportunities in the solar system -- see http://blogs.plos.org/retort/2012/06/05/transits-of-earth-from-other-planets-2/ for a nice discussion. I'll agree, though, that an extrasolar planet transit falls into a different category, because it is not an alignment within an individual system, but random happenstance.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@theDunedan That's a very good point.
Isn't it highly likely that someone born this year will be alive in December 2117? It would make them 105.
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