Post by Paulie pchris00 on May 7, 2012 9:57:09 GMT -6
For months now, I've pretty much had my mind set, but I struggled for awhile about how to observe the ingress during the Venus transit. Should I make this a public observation, or should I concentrate on my own observing and imaging? Historically, the contact points were the focus of the observing, trying to get exact timings. The areola effect of sunlight refracting through the Venusian atmosphere, and the black drop effect just after contact are going to be the most interesting things for us astronomers to observe during the transit. We only have about 18 minutes between first and second contacts, and that time will fly by. Sharing it with the public will further usurp those few moments from us.
I've decided that I'm not making my telescopes publicly available until after second contact. I think that is fair. I have been waiting nearly eight years to observe Venus in front of the Sun with a telescope, and have outfitted myself accordingly. It's up to each astronomer how to share their equipment, but I don't think it's wrong for any of us to try to get the best observations and most enjoyment out of the brief moments of ingress. I've even typed a sign- not yet printed- to post near my telescopes. It reads:
Am I wrong? Am I being unreasonably selfish? I think I do enough to spread enthusiasm for astronomy that I'm entitled to a few minutes during ingress for myself and close friends. Assuming clear skies throughout, there will be about three hours to show and enjoy the Venusian dot on the solar disk, and I will share it with a smile and an elevated heartbeat. I figure since I'm in control of my telescopes, the show doesn't begin until I say it does. For those of you working a public ToV event, if you have the option to keep the rare event of ingress to yourself, I suggest you do. And don't feel guilty about it.
I've decided that I'm not making my telescopes publicly available until after second contact. I think that is fair. I have been waiting nearly eight years to observe Venus in front of the Sun with a telescope, and have outfitted myself accordingly. It's up to each astronomer how to share their equipment, but I don't think it's wrong for any of us to try to get the best observations and most enjoyment out of the brief moments of ingress. I've even typed a sign- not yet printed- to post near my telescopes. It reads:
We will be quite happy to
show you the Transit of
Venus
AFTER
the moment of second
contact, when Venus is fully
upon the solar disk.
Until then, we are trying to
obtain scientific data, in the
tradition of Halley, DeLisle,
and many other astronomers of the past.
Thank you for coming to view
this rare event with us, and
your patience is much
appreciated.
Am I wrong? Am I being unreasonably selfish? I think I do enough to spread enthusiasm for astronomy that I'm entitled to a few minutes during ingress for myself and close friends. Assuming clear skies throughout, there will be about three hours to show and enjoy the Venusian dot on the solar disk, and I will share it with a smile and an elevated heartbeat. I figure since I'm in control of my telescopes, the show doesn't begin until I say it does. For those of you working a public ToV event, if you have the option to keep the rare event of ingress to yourself, I suggest you do. And don't feel guilty about it.