lewelma Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I think Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and parts of China are in its path. Next opportunity is in 2117. Of course we are expecting rain all day. :( We even bought the special glasses. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 We're trying to watch on the live webcast from Hawaii. They seem to be having technical difficulties though. http://venustransit.nasa.gov/webcasts/nasaedge/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Woo hoo! You can see it clearly on the link I put on the post above this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinRTX Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 We have our large telescope set up in the driveway with a sun filter on it. We got to see it start and now it is fully in front of the sun (a little dark circle in the the middle of a large yellow brightness!) Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BinahYeteirah Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 No, no, no! My husband spent his day constructing a special viewer for it, but it is very cloudy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theYoungerMrsWarde Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I just showed ds5 a live showing on a news network online, and he was very unimpressed. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnitWit Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 We are watching online. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I just showed ds5 a live showing on a news network online, and he was very unimpressed. Oh well. I can understand that for a 5 year old. My 10 and 14 year old are impressed - but for only 5 min at a time. They want me to call them every now and then when something actually different is happening.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Dh, Great Girl, Middle Girl, and Girls' Grandaddy are watching on the telescope viewing roof of the science building on campus. Wee Girl and I are watching via the UNM feed, while she alternates lying in bed looking listlessly at the computer screen and rushing for the toilet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIE! Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 we just got back from our local observatory. We saw it through the telescopes there, and will continue to check up on it with our funny little glasses at home until sunset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Just got back from driving around town with neighbor, his wife, his telescope and filter. We were looking for a place without clouds. Found a spot! It was cool. Neighbor says 2017 Kansas for the next solar eclipse. Can't wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleWonders Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 We are checking on it every now and then. When we first looked, Venus was at about 1:00/2:00 on the very, very edge of the sun. It is slowly moving towards center (or at least away from the edge). We are using our eclipse glasses we bought for, well, the eclipse. ;) The boys are interested, but only to go out every 10-15 minutes to take a look. They comment on the position and then come back inside. (They are amazed with how little Venus looks as compared to how the moon looked against the sun during the eclipse.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I've been trying but just can't see the dot no matter what. I'll just have to settle for watching online. It's still very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I just showed ds5 a live showing on a news network online, and he was very unimpressed. Oh well. I'm with him to be honest. I wouldn't have even bothered looking if it wasn't for this thread. It's a small black dot on a big white one. :tongue_smilie: Well, honestly, we really do think the size difference is pretty cool but none of us are sure it's worth looking at repeatedly, and DH worked on the space program in his younger days. Are we really that boring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I'm with him to be honest. I wouldn't have even bothered looking if it wasn't for this thread. It's a small black dot on a big white one. :tongue_smilie: Well, honestly, we really do think the size difference is pretty cool but none of us are sure it's worth looking at repeatedly, and DH worked on the space program in his younger days. Are we really that boring? It's much more impressive than that if you have the right equipment—like NASA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 It's much more impressive than that if you have the right equipment—like NASA. Even NASA is breaking up their live broadcast of the transit (7 hours long!) with videos about Galileo etc. and live interviews with scientists. I pull the kids over every now and then when something esp. interesting comes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 it's raining here. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 pin hole camera..... not so good. binoculars with welders filters... very good :001_smile: and very, very small compared to the solar eclipse...... but still very cool. not 7 hours worth of cool, mind you, but cool.... ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 We're waiting, waiting, waiting for a break in the clouds...the sky is clearing on the western horizon so we may just catch it before sunset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Dh took Dd to the top of the driveway and saw it. I was studying and missed it. Oh well. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 We saw it at a local observatory. DS8 was really into it - DD4 not so much. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BridgeTea Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 We saw it off and on between clouds this evening! We did the backwards-binocular viewing method and it worked like a charm. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandymom Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 We saw it. The local astronomy club set up several telescoped with filters, and we (and about 300 other people) stood out in the blazing heat to look through them. Pretty cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuff Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 It was overcast all day, but cleared up to be a beautiful evening! We went to a local university that had a bunch of telescopes set up. The kids looked through several and then they had a fun physics demonstration for the children. It was a lot o fun! Much better than the disappointing eclipse that was too low in the horizon to see here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristineW Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 We enjoyed it (me, DS6, DD5, and even DD3). The library had telescopes on the plaza. There was one large telescope with a long line and two telescopes with no line. Toward the middle, an astronomer used his telescope and eyepiece to project the transit onto an easel. The kids traced what they saw--a big round circle with a dark dot on the edge and a few lighter sunspots--this was my little one's favorite activity, We also had our own glasses. It wasn't can't turn away excitement, but it was good fun in small bits (view, go to the library, look again, visit the bookshop, wait in line, draw, go home). Not as awesome as the eclipse but worth seeing. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garddwr Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 We saw it! The clouds cleared just enough to give us 15 minutes of viewing before sunset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaJeanne Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 We saw it! Ds8 made drawings of the position every hour. So five times he ran outside, found Venus' position in about five seconds, ran back in and drew what he saw, then went back to playing. The whole thing probably took an entire minute of his day, but he really enjoyed that minute! Even though the little black dot wasn't necessarily super impressive (from a bigger is better point of view) the way it puts the solar system into perspective really hit me. Venus looked tiny in front of the sun, and that is looking at it as if they were both the same distance from Earth. But that the sun appears so much bigger than Venus even though it is much farther away was pretty crazy to think about while looking at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 We saw it! It was awesome! The clouds parted at just the right time over Puget Sound and we spent a couple of hours looking at it through the Astronomical Society telescopes right next to the water. Gorgeous! The kids drew pictures of what they saw through the sun scope, had a lesson with hands-on models of the sun and posters, and said it was the best day of their lives! :D Could not have ordered a better afternoon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 It's gone now on the live feed from Hawaii. I'm sad. I'd grown attached!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Thanks Jean for posting that link...we watched it from this...so amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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