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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsAny websites show the Transit of Venus across the sun today? I have a young cousin who wants to
watch it but I have no telescope .
rug
(82,333 posts)lookingfortruth
(263 posts)jakeXT
(10,575 posts)The transit of Venus live from the Arctic!
In Europes most northerly town of Longyearbyen, teams of scientists are preparing to observe the last transit of Venus of this century using ground-based telescopes.
From ESAs Space Astronomy Center (ESAC), Michel Breitfellner and Miguel Perez Ayucar who are normally involved with the science planning of Venus Express are preparing to observe the transit from the ground using solar and optical telescopes equipped with cameras. An identical set of instruments will be used to make observations from the other side of the world in Canberra, Australia. Live images will be broadcast via ESAs Venus Transit Monitor.
http://blogs.esa.int/venustransit/
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,374 posts)... that involves a cardboard box and a piece of dark paper with a pin hole in it.
"Camera obscura" might be the name for it.
It should project the image of the sun on the inside of the box, and you should be able to see a dark dot that slowly moves across part of the disk.
Aiming a telescope at the sun is best left to professionals. An amateur (like you and me) could fry a retina.
There are probably hundreds of websites that will show the transit live:
http://www.uq.edu.au/news/?article=24813
But a website is not the same as seeing it in your very own cardboard box!
lookingfortruth
(263 posts)too small for the human eye.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,374 posts)I saw the one in 2004, looking at the sun through special lenses (filters), but no magnification. Venus was a black dot, clearly visible. It might be something to try while also watching the web sites.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,374 posts)Clouds have rolled in, and it won't clear up anytime soon.
I'll be watching it through the intertubes.
HarveyDarkey
(9,077 posts)elleng
(131,196 posts)Follow her wherever she goes!
lookingfortruth
(263 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,374 posts)... of a stolen garden gnome.