Venus transit

Transits of Venus are exceedingly rare, due to that world’s tilted orbit: After the 2012 Venus transit, the world won’t see another until 2117.

So, called to the observatory I went, removed the hyper star lens and camera, replaced the secondary lens, attached solar filters on the main telescope and my guide scope, and pointed the scope at the sun about 3:30 PM. I set the scope to track the sun and awaited the 6:00 PM beginning of the transit.

I arrived at the observatory at 6:00 PM. Opening the dome, the telescope was tracking the sun right on target. Right on schedule, the transit had just begun. Below is a picture taken with my video recorder pointed over my 42 MM eyepiece.

This was afocal astrophotography at its simplest.