We would like to acknowledge and thank the organizations and businesses that helped support our 2012 Annual CAA Convention by donating door prizes for our event. These organizations and companies offer many quality products and services for amateur and professional astronomers. Many thanks to our Secretary Steve Spears who solicited the donations and to the following for their support:
At the bottom edge of the setting Sun, here, there may be a green flash.
The “green flash” is not a new Marvel Comics superhero but a subtle and interesting phenomenon sometimes seen just before sunrise or just after sunset; a green-colored ray or spot is seen just above the horizon. CAA member Jay Reynolds observed and photographed an occurrence of the green flash on Aug. 6 from Kelleys Island.
“Unfortunately, as these predictions go, the possibility of seeing it was well announced by TV meteorologists…” said Reynolds, “but this occurrence was subtle and not easily detectable.” In other words, many looked for the flash but few saw it!
“In photo number one, there is a possible green flash visible at the bottom of the sun. It is unfortunate that the shot is overexposed to the point of saturation” he said. “Suzie Dills deserves the credit for detecting it during the photo review.”
Green flash is visible just after sunset August 6, 2012. Enlarge to best see color.
“Photo number two is the best of the main sequence,” said Reynolds of his images. Viewed in a larger size, the green coloration is easily visible.
“It still was an outstanding Lake Erie Sunset shared by all!”
June 5 began cloudy, even rainy in places…the worst possible conditions for a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event: the transit of Venus! Since most recent transit took place in 2004 and the next will not be seen until the year 2117, it was today or never for everyone who had an interest.
Second contact during the transit of Venus, by Joe Hamlin.
As it turned out, however, barely in time for the 6:04 PM EDT start of the transit, skies began to brighten, then clear! Thousands across the North Coast region were treated to excellent views of Earth’s would-be solar system twin in silhouette against the boiling surface of our nearest star.
A special celebration was staged at Edgewater Beach State Park and was the largest event of its kind in the area. Based upon controlled distribution of free solar viewer cards, event coordinator Jay Reynolds estimated as many as 8,000 people may have attended. Smaller public and private observing sessions took place around Northeastern Ohio including Black River Astronomical Society in Lorain, the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village, Hiram College in Hiram, and the Aurora Astronomical Society in Streetsboro.
Transit of Venus 2012 with sunspots and photosphere granulation visible. Photo by James Guilford.
Members of the Cuyahoga Astronomical Association, the Cleveland Astronomical Society, and others provided a good number and selection of telescopes, sharing their views of the transit with the public. Equipment ranged from the newest computerized models to beautiful, brass instruments likely a century in age — telescopes, unlike people, can survive to see more than just a couple of Venusian transits.
WKYC TV-3 staffer Ryan Haidet shot and posted a good number of still photographs of the Edgewater event. To see them individually or as a slide show, Click Here!
WEWS TV-5 Meteorologist Jason Nicolas wrote an article describing his impressions and how the crowd reacted to the “magical moment” in time defined by the transit of Venus. To read the article, Click Here.
Sunset ended viewing of the transit but a star party took place after dark. Photo by Christopher Christe.
The Sun with (center) sunspot #1486 and (upper-right) sunspot #1484. Converted to monochrome.
“I spent some time this morning experimenting with solar photography. On June 5 the transit of Venus will take place and, since the next one after that won’t happen for another 115 years, I thought I should try for this year’s! Call me impatient. I discovered to my dismay that my very expensive, modern-design, Herschel Wedge won’t work for photography with my six-inch refractor telescope and DSLR. I could not crank the camera “in” close enough to achieve focus with the wedge in place. Rats! I’m going to make quick queries to see what I can do to resolve the issue if I’m to use the wedge any time soon … and June 5 is soon! So with the telescope still set up in the mid-morning sunshine, I removed the wedge and covered the telescope’s objective lens with the very inexpensive AstroZap filter made using Baader AstroSolar film. I connected my trusty (and light-weight) Canon Digital Rebel XT to the scope’s eyepiece holder for prime-focus imaging and made several bracketed exposures. Later I discovered the results were very good though not quite as good as shots made with my Canon EOS 50D and Canon 400mm telephoto. The difference in quality may be attributed to seeing conditions –the images were made days apart– but either setup will do just fine for recording the upcoming historic celestial event. Now all we need is clear skies on that day!” — James Guilford
