Transit of Venus Update

June 5th @ 9:15pm - A quick update... after a small group of us eggheads tried various combinations of pinholes and covered boxes and tubes, Captain John announced that anyone wanting to see the transit of Venus should join him on the Poop Deck. He had taken the solar filters off of his sextant (they still have them!) and affixed them to one of the lenses in his marine binoculars, and covered the other lens up with duct tape.

It worked like a charm, and we all took turns gazing sunward, and I was delighted to see the tiny black dot of Venus set against the bright disk of the Sun. It's odd... I can see the transit much better by looking on the Internet and getting images from NASA, the ESA, and most of the big telescopes around the world, but there is something magical about seeing it live, in person, with your own eyes. It reminds me of the first time I saw the rings of Saturn - something indescribable just captures your imagination.

I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to see something that, like Halley's comet, only comes around once in a lifetime! Here are a few shots of the groups of us taking in the transit of Venus this afternoon while out in the big blue Pacific!

Blog post by Scott Doehler
Marine Educator


Photos by Dwight Owens
Communication Specialist