Venus is transiting the sun right now.

[mikw73]

In case you didn't know. Live video and stills from telescopes around the world and scintillating astronomers' discussion are here:

http://events.slooh.com/

 

[norcalwelder]

Thanks for the heads up....I went outside and looked with a welding mask and sure enough, there was a little round spot up there.

 

[Motogiro]

My wife Lisa and I went to the Grand Canyon to see the lunar eclipse weeks ago and still had our viewers. Really cool to see Venus transiting today!

 

[SirIsaac]

In case you didn't know. Live video and stills from telescopes around the world and scintillating astronomers' discussion are here:

SLOOH SpaceCamera - Live Event

I was all set for 3 hours of fun and excitement watching the first half of the transit, but, alas, clouds rolled in just before first contact. Happily, the western sky cleared enough just before sunset that I was able to observe for about 20 minutes. I know I could have watched on NASA TV, or seen pictures, but somehow it just seems different to have had actual photons that came from the sun, with some of their brethren blocked by Venus, enter my eyeball and strike my retina to form the image in the visual cortex of my brain.

On the news coverage, I kept hearing something to the effect that “no one alive today will see the next transit of Venus…” The next transit is December, 2117, and I’m guessing there will be quite a few 105+ year old people around. (Assuming we get past the coming apocalypse this December and all of the other manmade and natural disasters waiting to befall us.) A better statement might have been that no one who observed it this time and knew what he or she was looking at would live to see the next one. Even that is not impossible, though. Let’s say that a 5 year old is old enough to view the transit, understand what he or she is looking at, and remember that they did it. There may be a few (or a lot, depending on medical progress) of 110+ year olds alive in 2117 who might be able to see it. I think the various astronomical societies should have gotten big groups of 5 year olds to look at it and taped them viewing. At least one might make to the next transit, which would make for a nifty human-interest story on the 11 o’clock news on December 11, 2117.

But I digress….

 

[SirIsaac]

...I went outside and looked with a welding mask...

Was it a shade no. 14 glass, or otherwise conform to the requirements listed here?:
Can I Use Welding Glass to View the Sun? (5)

 

[pookamatic]

In case you didn't know. Live video and stills from telescopes around the world and scintillating astronomers' discussion are here:

SLOOH SpaceCamera - Live Event

Missed it. Next one is on my calendar.

 

[mxgolf]

I checked it out with some exposed x-ray film. Looked pretty cool. I have always been interested in space and the solar system. Wanted to be an astronaut as a young kid. Never made it but still very interested in space.

 

[Motogiro]

We watched it and shared our viewer with the neighbors. Very cool experience!
One of my neighbors said Venus will do this again in 2117?

 

[SirIsaac]

One of my neighbors said Venus will do this again in 2117?

Yes, December 11, 2117, then again only eight years later on December 8, 2125, then there is a 121-1/2 year gap to the first of another pair of transits separated by eight years in June 2247 and June 2255. This pattern (8 years, 105.5 years, 8 years, 121.5 years) will repeat until the second of what would be a pair of transits separated by eight years is a "miss" in 3097.