Observing the 2012 Transit of Venus in Maberly

Jun 01, 2012

Photo: Amateur astronomers in Maberly, Fred Barrett, Bob Hillier and Tom Ray offer passers-by an up close look at the 2012 Transit of Venus.

Given that two local amateur astronomers have set up their own personal observatories in Maberly, it was not surprising to find three of them gathered by the side of Road 36 just south of Maberly on Tuesday June 5. And because amateur astronomers tend to be of a generous nature and like to share their discoveries with curious passers-by, the three came well equipped with multiple ways to view the transit of Venus.

Armed with safety eclipse glasses, of the astronomers' own making as well as the store-bought variety, a welder's mask, and two high-powered telescopes, they offered those who joined them a safe and close up look at what has been described as being “among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena”.

When I took a look just shortly after 6 pm, Venus appeared as a wee black half disc on the edge of the sun, the same ratio, let's say, as half a ladybug stuck to the outer perimeter of a large dinner plate. But for local astronomer Fred Barrett, who writes the column "What's Up in the Night Sky" for this newspaper and his amateur astronomer buddies Bob Hiller of Kanata, who is currently in the process of building an observatory in Maberly, and Tom Ray of Ottawa, the event was a very big deal. After speaking with them I came to understand why.

Photo right: the transit photographed through the lens of one of the telescopes in Maberly.

The transits of Venus occur in pairs separated by eight years and this year's transit is the pair of one that occurred in 2004. Before that, the last pair of transits occurred in 1874 and 1882. This week's transit will be the last one to take place in this century; the next one will occur in December 2117 with its pair to follow in 2125. No wonder these three gents were in awe.

Fred Barrett, who had arrived in Maberly fresh from Ottawa and his daughter's graduation, had no time to set up his telescope, so instead he set up a digital camera with a telephoto lens so that he could take photos of the event. He was ecstatic. “To see something like this is absolutely spectacular. To be here to see it gives you a kind of quiet satisfaction in your soul.”

Next he explained the important information that astronomers gain from the transit of Venus. “Both the old explorers (Captain Cook included) and today's astronomers use this transit to measure the size of the solar system by recording how long it takes Venus to pass over the sun's surface. Using this time and by applying geometry, they can calculate the distance of the earth to Venus and to the sun.” The transit of Venus is similar in fact to a solar eclipse by the moon, the difference being that the moon, which is so much closer to the earth, will totally cover the sun. In the case of a Venus transit, though Venus is three times larger than the moon, it appears as a small black dot on the sun's surface due to the fact that it is so much further away from the earth.

I had to ask these three gentleman astronomers what this Venus transit might mean when it comes to matters of love. Not surprisingly their answers distanced them from their astrologer counterparts. "I don't follow astrology and I refuse to belittle other people's beliefs even though they are hogwash,” Barrett replied with a laugh.

Love considerations aside, Fred has definite plans to send his pictures of the transit to the national magazine "Sky News" which he said does a great job of making people aware of interesting occurrences in the skies.

Thanks to these three passionate and generous souls I had a chance to actually see the 2012 Transit of Venus and I can tell you it made a lasting impression on me.