Venus Transit

June 5, 2012

We almost missed this transit. Throughout the day, I kept glancing out the window to see nothing but clouds. As the end of the day neared, a few patchy areas of blue appeared but it still seemed unlikely that we would get to see the show. Less than an hour before sunset, we headed out to our spot on the shore of Lake Monona where the sunset would be visible above the Capitol skyline. Miraculously, with about a half hour to go, the sky cleared and we were able to witness this lovely transit. I had hoped to get a shot of the transit directly behind the Capitol, but the alignment from the tiny public park wasn't quite right and all the shoreline property has been bought up for expensive private homes. What to do? I ended up wading down the shore of Lake Monona in my socks and dress pants like a madman with camera in hand, trying not to slip on the rocks and slime. I almost lost my balance several times before deciding that was madness. I never was able to get the perfect Capitol alignment, but I was very pleased wth the resulting images anyway. The distinctive Church steeple that you see in the sequence is, St. Patrick's Catholic Church on East Main Street. Quite nice. As the Stones say, "You can't always get what you want, but you get what you need."

-Abe Megahed
Madison, Wisconsin
June 6, 2012
abem <at> tds.net

Montage
(Click to Enlarge)
Taken with a Nikon D300, 500mm mirror lens and solar filter

Venus Transit over The Capitol
(Click to Enlarge)

Venus Transit Over The Capitol (With Inset)
(Click to Enlarge)

Sunset Sequence1
(Click to Enlarge)

Sunset Sequence2
(Click to Enlarge)

Sunset Sequence3
(Click to Enlarge)

Sunset Sequence4
(Click to Enlarge)

Sunset Sequence5
(Click to Enlarge)