Landscape in Greece before sunrise

This is south Euboea, 70km away from Athens/Greece before sunrise. The Venus transit 2012 was already ongoing at that time, but the Sun was still below the horizon.

The greek landscape before the Venus transit 2012

Oh, Greece is such a beautyful country! But where is Venus?

The first light beams are hitting the camera. But where is Venus?

The excitement was big. The first light beams fall straight on the camera sensor. The camera firmware suddenly crashes during changing the SD card. Should I have to wait 103 years for reshooting? No. After switching the camera off and switching it on again, my work horse is up and running :-)

Venus Transit 2012

View behind the trees only a few minutes after sunrise

Venus Transit 2012

Some spots are also visible.

Only the space is between us

No more trees between Venus and the camera.

Few minutes later

Yupie! I've just got another sharp photo of the transit! Most of my photos in the mean time were out of focus

Go Nikon go!

The focusing gets better and better. During the transit was obvious, I had very little experience with my new Nikon 300mm telezoom lense indeed.

Venus Transit 2012

Venus movement in the firmament was never more obvious than at this morning

Hot moments in Greece

Greece is a hot country. This spectacular view was even hotter.

Venus is getting sharper

My focusing skills with all new Nikon 300mm telezoom lense are getting better and better :-)

Venus get even more sharper

Obviously, I learned how to come in focus with my new telezoom lense at this morning :-)

Venus is so close to us

During the transit, Venus is closer to Earth than any other planet in our Solar system.

The way of Venus

The exact way i.e how Venus crosses the Sun disc depends of the observation place. So, I simulated it with a planetarium software and I can indeed confirm it. Venus crosses the Sun disc in a different way in Greece than in the Pacific.

A rare cosmic event

A simultaneous Venus and Mercury transit will take place on July, 26th 69163.

I have to wait a little

The next Venus transit on December 11th, 2117 is not observable from Greece. The next chance to observe a Venus transit from Greece is on December 8th, 2125.

Let's plan the future

In 113 years from now, my Nikon d3100 DSLR will be 115 years old. I am not sure if its electronics will work properly but I am optimistic. My 24 years old EQ mount will do its work for sure. This mount has no electronics at all. Only some grease will be necessary in the next century.

There is something even more rare than this one

A simultaneous transit of Venus and Mercury will take place on July 26th, 69163. I think at that time the offspring of the homo sapiens will probably be able to travel through the Galaxis habitating several Earth-like exoplanets, making this event somehow meaningless. Who knows.

A Nikon d3100 on standby mode

A Nikon d3100 meets an 24 years old EQ-2 mount. I keep on waiting. The Venus Transit 2012 but the Sun is still under the greek horizon.

Venus in front of the Sun

Did you know? The Venus Transit on April 5th, 15232 occurs during a Sun eclipse.

The angular size of Venus...

The angular size of Venus was approx. 58" during the transit. Venus had a brightness of -3.68mag

The mass of Venus

Venus has 0.815 Earth masses. It looks so small during the transit. How big is the Sun?

Hang on a minute!

The camera is waiting for the event of the 21th century

The 3rd touch will soon be reality

Venus is coming closer to the Sun disc

I think, the next minutes will be very exciting.

Ladies and Gentlemen start your engines!

The Nikon d3100 equipped with the Nikor 55-300mm zoom lenses is ready for action.

The view is getting sharper...

My focussing skills with the new lenses are getting better by the time. Venus is still up there and the important 3rd touch is on the way.

Venus is dancing

Venus dances twice a century in front of the Sun. This was the second and the last time for me to observe this wonderful event. I will never observe it again.

Watch it!

It will happen soon!

The reason why Venus transits are so rare is explained here

Although the orbit of Venus around the Sun is almost circular, it is inclined compared to Earth's orbit with an angle of 3.4°

Several sun spots are visible

You can see numerous spots on the Sun disc. The Sun rotates, so the spots do also rotate but with different speeds, since their rotation speed depends on theis distance from the Sun equator

I see it!

The 3rd touch is coming ahead. I think, I see it.

Come, Venus come!

These are the unprocessed photons..

..as registered by the camera. I let it unprocessed to see every real detail in it.

I must wait 115 years to see this again :-o

Venus Transit 2012

Der Tropfeneffekt beim Transit der Venus durch die Sonne im Jahr 2012

In Germany we call it "Tropfeneffect"

The "Tropfeneffect" is caused due to the limited resolution power of the used telescope optics. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_drop_effect

The drop effect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_drop_effect

The drop effect

is even more clear now

Exciting moments

This is one of the more exciting moments during the Venus transit. -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_drop_effect

The drop is now perfect

In the past, the people though, the drop effect is caused due to the thick atmosphere of Venus. That was wrong.

The camera is placed towards the Sun