The Transit of Venus, 5 June 2012
 
All Photography by J. Franklin Campbell, Mason, Michigan, USA
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Personal Diary of the transit of Venus, 5 June 2012

 

I took several digital photos using an Olympus PEN E-PL2 micro four thirds format digital camera attached to a William Optics 70ED refractor, F6, 420 mm focal length (unguided). The day was partly clouded, but fortunately the sun was in a clearing towards the beginning and the ending of viewing. Only the beginning of the Transit was visible from this location, with the sun setting well before the ending of this transit.

-- J. Franklin Campbell

Transit of Venus, 5 June 2012<br>Mason, Michigan (USA)<br>Olympus PEN E-PL2 with William Optics 70ED lens prime focus

When I set up to observe the transit it was already started. In a rush to get a photo before 2nd contact (disk of Venus completely within the disk of the sun) I didn't get a precise focus, so the photo is a little fuzzy. I corrected this before the next photo using the 14X feature of the Olympus E-PL2 for improved manual focus. This is a nice feature found on many cameras using electronic viewfinders.

Transit of Venus, 5 June 2012
Transit of Venus, 5 June 2012

The clouds were coming and going during the transit. Here you can clearly see the clouds passing over the sun, but the features are still clearly in view. The last photo shows the setting sun with Venus still clearly visible. A few minutes later the transit had passed from view as the sun set behind the trees. Of course, the trees were out of focus since they were much closer than the sun.

Transit of Venus, 5 June 2012
Copyright © 2012 by J. Franklin Campbell, all rights reserved

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