Astronomy Club of Asheville hosts Venus Transit viewing

“The lines were a lot longer than I expected,” said Greg Townsend, “as an educator, I am really glad to see this.” People stood in lines and asked questions as our nearest planet moved across the disc of the sun.

There were many ways to see the event, from looking directly using filtered glasses, through lower-end telescopes projecting the sun on paper, and up to high-end telescopes connected to computers to display the images on screen.

After some false starts, and with a little ingenuity I was able to fashion a filter which worked for my telephoto lens. While not as detailed as some of the telescope views, you can clearly see Venus, the black dot at around the one-o’clock position, a couple of huge sun spots around the middle, and some clouds towards the bottom.

Here is a slideshow of some of the sights of the afternoon.

For more information about future events hosted by our local Astronomy Club, check out their page at http://www.astroasheville.org

And if you missed this, and are oh, under 10 or so.. there is a chance you might make the next one on December 11, 2117.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.