Transit of Venus
June 09, 2004
Provided by: John Rummel, Madison Metropolitan School District
Summary authors & editors: Jim Foster; John Rummel
The superb photo above of the disk of Venus contacting the rim of the Sun was taken shortly after sunrise (June 8) from Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin. In this case, Venus is about to exit the Sun's face -- referred to as "3rd contact." Note the flattening at the edge of Venus where it's tangent with the Sun. This is part of the "black-drop" effect, which likely results from the optics of the telescope rather than atmospheric effects. It should be mentioned that this image is inverted -- Venus actually exited the right-hand portion of the Sun.
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