NASA Compiles Stunning Transit of Venus Video

[Marshall Honorof]

Fin.

Ugh, that sucks, man. I'm in NYC, so unless I wanted to take a day off and drive out of town or get on the roof of the Empire State Building and build a projector, I was out of luck. My only real recommendation would be to check out NASA's eclipse site and use your fancy telescope for the next phenomenon in town: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html

Or flee to a very, very sunny part of the world. I find that unless I am vacationing there, it rarely rains in Arizona (but if I go, expect it to pour until I leave).

 

[ChaosDragoness]

As a libra (and probably just someone who appreciates astronomy/science), I think this is awesome stuff.

Particularly liked all the various angles and methods of filming the sun that were used~

I'm a Taurus, proud to have Venus as my sign's ruling planet, and I love astronomy and science as well. It makes one feel so small to witness these kinds of things when they happen.

Truly the universe is a mysterious and wonderful place that we're all lucky to belong to

 

[Marshall Honorof]

that was pretty awesome

I wonder, do they make those pictures in 1080p? would definitely consider adding that glorious yellow one into my desktop slideshow

Stil..*shudders* it could've been just me, but DAMNNN, it was flippin hot as shit outside when venus was crossing paths with the sun, I don't think i've ever tanned so fast in my life.

There's a good selection of images here: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010900/a010996/index.html

 

[Tohuvabohu]

It's hard to not feel emotionally moved when watching that, I had to wipe a tear from my eyes after the video was over.

Thanks to NASA for compiling that video. I appreciated every second of it.

 

[Vanbael]

Guys guys guys....lets go to space! No stupid religious debates in space.
SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE SPAAAAAAAAAACE!
Okay, with that out of my system, I'm glad that was posted to youtube. Sad that people argue science vs. religion, but I ignored it and watched it over and over again. Kind of cool knowing how small we really are.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

that was pretty awesome

I wonder, do they make those pictures in 1080p? would definitely consider adding that glorious yellow one into my desktop slideshow

Stil..*shudders* it could've been just me, but DAMNNN, it was flippin hot as shit outside when venus was crossing paths with the sun, I don't think i've ever tanned so fast in my life.

There's a good selection of images here: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010900/a010996/index.html

Thanks for that link, I'm definitely grabbing a couple of those.

(not to mention, it's like a real life yellowish spirit bomb, who wouldn't want an awesome picture of that?!?)

 

[Mrsoupcup]

Well I'm sure feeling small today.

Also google VY Canis Majoras to have yourself a laugh.

 

[F'Angus]

Well that's just damn cool.

 

[Rainboq]

there is something wrong with it.

it appears as if the venus gets a pattern/hatching/shading when it 'touches' the sun. look closely.

optical illusion?

Atmospheric refraction and camera focus.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Don't have an observatory near you?

Now you too can watch the stunning dot move across the face of the sun!

 

[Evil Smurf]

Gotta love the religion argument in the comments, youtube never fails to impress me.

Have they brought up Nazis yet? Shit! did I invoke Godwins Law?

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

If you wanted to see the transit of Venus without burning your eyes out or constructing a rudimentary projection device, this is about as good as it gets.

*Note : I am still struggling to cope with my rage and bitter disappointment as I type this. I am not usually a monkeyape of Furious Anger[sup]TM[/sup].*

[HEADING=1]THIS HAPPENS TO NOT BE ENTIRELY ACCURATE.[/HEADING]

See, some of us would have liked to point our telescopes at the sun. Perhaps SOME OF US would have put their NEW AND EXPENSIVE SOLAR FILTER on their telescopes. THEN MAYBE SOME OF US MIGHT HAVE WATCHED THE TRANSIT LIVE, WITH OUR OWN EYES AND WITH GLORIOUS MAGNIFICATION, THE LAST HUMANS TO DO SO FOR OVER A CENTURY.

IT IS, IN FACT, ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT SOME OF US STAYED AWAKE ALL NIGHT, DESPERATELY CHECKING THE EASTERN HORIZON, WAITING FOR THE SUNRISE.

Of course, living in Scotland, asking that a June day not be foggy, cloudy, and pissing rain [HEADING=3]ON THE DAY OF AN EVENT I WILL NOT EVER VIEW AGAIN IN A LIFETIME OF ASTRONOMY[/HEADING] was frankly preposterous.

Fin.

Spoiler

He mad

Your rage and the eloquence in which you describe it is impressive; and hilarious. I am sorry that you missed the chance, though.

To be honest, I don't think the video is that impressive. Sure, it's amazing that it's a once in a lifetime thing, but...

It's just a circle moving across another circle. It's not like an eclipse where the entire light is blotted out, there's not enough time to see the movement of plasma accross the surface of the sun, and so on.

 

[ckam]

I find the religion debate happening on the youtube comments much more amusing.

But yes, this is so awesome.

 

[Quaxar]

I watched it from home. All I did was put on three pairs of sunglasses and then took to staring at the sun. I'm lucky I have good eyesight, because my sister couldn't see it at all.

The sun was bright as fuck, I'll say that much. Worth it.

Well, that good eyesight of yours certainly won't need to bother her any longer.
No but seriously, looking at the sun through three sunglasses is rather stupid I have to say. They are designed for diminishing a part of the visible and UV spectrum so you can see better.
There is a reason you get a special foil that blocks 99,9% of all the incoming light spectrum...

 

[Atmos Duality]

Ahh.
The Venus Solar Transit...I was out assisting my local astronomer groups at the Observatory I volunteer at. Had over 50 people, which is quite a lot for just two scopes.

I had a program running a 3D simulation of the sky in my neck of the woods, which included the Venus Transit. Used that to keep people entertained and informed while we waited for the telescope to become available again (can't send more than a dozen people up into the dome at a time).

The real view was really damn cool, though we had a couple of hours where local cloud cover and rain blocked the view. But considering the time frame of the event AND the fact that I was in a part of the world able to see it at prime time (best angle for viewing at the observatory is between 30 and 72 degrees ascension) I'm counting myself as lucky.

 

[TKretts3]

I don't mean to be rude or anything, but could someone explain why this is such an important thing, or big deal? All I see is a black dot moving across the screen.

I don't know, maybe it's something that only science or astronomy students will understand (I've always been more attracted to Acting, Law, Politics, and Philosophy), but never the less I'm interested as to why other people are excited by this.

 

[praetor_alpha]

(clip)

See, some of us would have liked to point our telescopes at the sun. Perhaps SOME OF US would have put their NEW AND EXPENSIVE SOLAR FILTER on their telescopes. THEN MAYBE SOME OF US MIGHT HAVE WATCHED THE TRANSIT LIVE, WITH OUR OWN EYES AND WITH GLORIOUS MAGNIFICATION, THE LAST HUMANS TO DO SO FOR OVER A CENTURY.

IT IS, IN FACT, ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT SOME OF US STAYED AWAKE ALL NIGHT, DESPERATELY CHECKING THE EASTERN HORIZON, WAITING FOR THE SUNRISE.

(clip)

I'm with you.

Of course, an astronomical event that won't happen for another century, THAT'S VISIBLE DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS NO LESS, AND OFC I'M LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET CLOUDS! Every time, darnit.

Maybe next time there's one, it won't be significant, because there will be spaceships that can line up the Sun and Venus anywhere in the solar system and travel with them, such that Venus will be eternally transiting the Sun.

As for my countrymen, I'm going south to catch a solar eclipse in 5 years. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_21,_2017] Who's with me?

 

[Bazaalmon]

I really wanted to see this in progress, but it was pouring rain at the time, so I missed it.
Oh well, I'll try again in 105 years!
Oh wait.
I don't think I'll be able to go to the southern pacific/australia for the solar eclipse either. Oh space, why are you so cruel?