Once every eight years, as dictated by orbital mechanics, planet Venus crosses the Pleiades star cluster. The star cluster is one of those nearest Earth and easy to spot: to the right and running ahead of the great Orion constellation. It’s an open cluster consisting of about 1,000 gravitationally-bound stars though only a few of them are visible to the unaided eye. Longer camera exposures reveal more and more stars in the group. The before, during, and after-transit conjunction positions of Venus and the Pleiades make for a lovely sight by eye, telescope, and a favorite target for astrophotographers. Shown below are some of the images CAA members have made of the April 2020 Venus/Pleiades combinations.
Wide view of the transit: Canon EOS Rebel T5i – 250mm lens, ISO 800 F5.6, 8 seconds. by Jon SalontayAlan Studt: Nikon D850, Sigma 600mm, f6.3, ISO 28000, 1/10th second, 110 shots, 25 darks stacked in DSS. Added a bit of glow in Photoshop.Venus Glows! by John D. BurkettPre-transit Conjunction. Via 400mm telephoto lens. April 2, 2020. by James Guilford.Venus and Three Sisters. View of the Venus transit through a telescope. “I wish I could have zoomed out!” says Photographer James Guilford.Transit in the Trees. by Jon Salontay. Canon EOS Rebel T5i, 55mm lens, ISO 800, F/4, 8 seconds.Venus visits the Pleiades. by Lonnie DittrickGlorious Pleiades. Canon and 70-200mm lens piggybacked telescope, 30-second images for about an hour, combined. by Dave Watkins.
