Venus passing in front of the sun

TitanDiddly

Guest
Dec 8, 2003
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Ah yes, I heard about this happening when I visited an observatory for 'sky night' or something. Personally, I don't get all hyped over looking at white things in the sky- in the case of farther planets, like Saturn, it is just a blurb with any kind of telescope a hobbyist would likely own. There is a cool factor knowing that the light traveled x miles to get to your cornea, but yeah...
 

MacBaine

Banned
Aug 23, 2001
9,999
0
0
Originally posted by: DrPizza
Originally posted by: MacBaine
Oh god this means we're next!

Well, actually, we are right now... There's just no one in the right place at the right time to watch it.

NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!


LIKE FLAMING LOGS! LIKE FLAMING LOOGGGSSS!!!
 

Descartes

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
13,968
2
0
I'm not in a good location to observe the transit, but I'll be heading to the observatory on Tuesday morning to view the final minutes.

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
Ah yes, I heard about this happening when I visited an observatory for 'sky night' or something. Personally, I don't get all hyped over looking at white things in the sky- in the case of farther planets, like Saturn, it is just a blurb with any kind of telescope a hobbyist would likely own. There is a cool factor knowing that the light traveled x miles to get to your cornea, but yeah...

Not even close. Saturn shows elongation even in my astronomical binoculars, and I can see ALL of the divisions in its rings in my telescopes. I can also see all of its bands. I can count all of its moons. I can observe the declination of the rings.

You should find an amateur astronomer who's willing to show you around the sky.
 

TitanDiddly

Guest
Dec 8, 2003
12,696
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0
Originally posted by: Descartes
I'm not in a good location to observe the transit, but I'll be heading to the observatory on Tuesday morning to view the final minutes.

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
Ah yes, I heard about this happening when I visited an observatory for 'sky night' or something. Personally, I don't get all hyped over looking at white things in the sky- in the case of farther planets, like Saturn, it is just a blurb with any kind of telescope a hobbyist would likely own. There is a cool factor knowing that the light traveled x miles to get to your cornea, but yeah...

Not even close. Saturn shows elongation even in my astronomical binoculars, and I can see ALL of the divisions in its rings in my telescopes. I can also see all of its bands. I can count all of its moons. I can observe the declination of the rings.

You should find an amateur astronomer who's willing to show you around the sky.

All the telescopes at the observatory must have been dialed in wrong or something... I saw something that looks like a blip of paint on a chalkboard with an ellipsis going through it.
 

silverpig

Lifer
Jul 29, 2001
27,703
12
81
You can count ALL of its moons? Even the ones that weren't discovered until probes went by?

:p

:D
 

Descartes

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
13,968
2
0
Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
Originally posted by: Descartes
I'm not in a good location to observe the transit, but I'll be heading to the observatory on Tuesday morning to view the final minutes.

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox
Ah yes, I heard about this happening when I visited an observatory for 'sky night' or something. Personally, I don't get all hyped over looking at white things in the sky- in the case of farther planets, like Saturn, it is just a blurb with any kind of telescope a hobbyist would likely own. There is a cool factor knowing that the light traveled x miles to get to your cornea, but yeah...

Not even close. Saturn shows elongation even in my astronomical binoculars, and I can see ALL of the divisions in its rings in my telescopes. I can also see all of its bands. I can count all of its moons. I can observe the declination of the rings.

You should find an amateur astronomer who's willing to show you around the sky.

All the telescopes at the observatory must have been dialed in wrong or something... I saw something that looks like a blip of paint on a chalkboard with an ellipsis going through it.

Did you focus it? :) The other possibilities are compromised optics (e.g. not collimated, bad eyepieces, etc.), but I highly doubt that's the case for any telescope actually setup for observations. It sounds like you didn't focus it, because even bad collimation wouldn't produce the ellipse.

[edit]Typo[/edit]
 

Descartes

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
13,968
2
0
Originally posted by: silverpig
You can count ALL of its moons? Even the ones that weren't discovered until probes went by?

:p

:D

Bastard! :) I can count all of the known moons observable with terrestrial equipment :)