(meteorobs) Venus transit

Mikhail Maslov feraj at mail.ru
Wed Jun 9 00:59:06 EDT 2004


So the long-expected transit. In Novosibirsk it was to occur in the
second half of the day. In the morning the weather was unfavorable,
with mostly clouded sky and occasional Sun appearances. Several times
short rains began. The transit was to start soon after 12 hours l.t.
(7 UT). I hoped the clouds would get thiner closer to the
noon. But from the south-west came the large clouds massive. Sun
faded out at all then. I was slightly disappointed by this matter,
however about 12 l.t. I noticed the sky became visible in the
south-west direction (from where the clouds were moving).
Unfortunately, when this break arrived, Venus had already begun
entering the Sun, so I missed the contact I. Just after the Sun appeared from the
clouds I noticed the deepening on its south-eastern edge, which was
gradually increasing and about 12:35:30 l.t. I registered the contact
II. Shortly after that the Sun had hidden behind clouds again.
When it appeared about 13 l.t. I watched this rare phenomena for 1,5
hours, enjoying its specifity. The Venus was travelling through the
lower side of the Sun, moving away from its left edge. After this
period I made a break because of new portion of clouds. Thanks to them
I missed the moment of transit maximum, which doesn't present any
specific features though. And it was the last massive overcast,
which was followed by small clouds. They did not make much trouble to
me. I watched from 16:20 to 17:00 l.t., and, after another small break
began the final observation at 17:10 l.t. The Venus was closing to the
opposite (bottom) Sun edge. The contact III occured about 17:58:40
l.t. The dark planet shape began to climb off the Sun. I seem I saw
slight thin rim for several moments. The transit ended with contact IV
about 18:20 l.t. The next transit in 2012 will be also totally or just
totally visible in Novosibirsk, though in the morning. Among other
details I'd like to emphasize small sunspots near the center of the
Sun, slightly to the left. Also, watching the final minutes of transit
I noticed the light area near its right edge (probably, flare).

Best regards, Mikhail Maslov



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