# 139 | The Blackdrop Effect

Seen at second and third contact, the black-drop effect is a phenomenon still under debate. A candidate for this effect could be irradiation, meaning the bright image of the Sun bleeds into the disc of Venus making it appear smaller than it really is. When the two objects are tangent to each other, what we perceive is Venus joined to the Sun by a dark peninsula across a bright strait. Like a stretched elastic, the dark band eventually snaps as Venus moves onto the disc, only to re-form again as it prepares to leave the Sun.

Brett Zimmerman took this image of Venus at 3rd contact using an 8" Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope equipped with a Thousand Oaks Optical Type 2+ solar filter. Using a Pentax MG camera and Fuji Superia 400 ISO film, Brett took an exposure of 1/250 of a second.

# 138 | Surprisingly Simple Shots

While some may believe that the latest digital technology is required to take astrophotos, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, many digital cameras designed for everyday, normal shots can give decent results.

Mike Boschat of Halifax, Nova Scotia took this image of the Sun, showing a number of giant sunspots, on June 18, 2004.

After fitting his 10cm Maksutov f10 telescope with a Thousand Oaks solar filter, Mike simply held his Centrios 3.0 megapixel DSC-3020 digital camera up to the eyepiece and took images without even checking the camera settings. Afterwards, the images were adjusted in Photoshop and XnView.

Note: solar observing or imaging should only be done with proper solar equipment. See your favourite astronomy retailer for products and more information.

The Moon makes an excellent target for a first-time imager. With the new Moon occurring earlier this week, the next two weeks will allow beginners a great opportunity to try their hand at imaging.

# 137 | The June 8, 2004 Venus Transit

Observers from eastern Canada who were fortunate to have clear skies were able to observe Venus transiting across the face of the Sun on June 8, 2004. A selection of images taken by readers of SkyNews can be found here.

Gordon Bulger of Ancaster, Ontario took this image using an Astro-Physics 4" apochromatic refractor equipped with a 2x teleconverter, giving an effective focal length of f/11, and a Baader solar filter. A 1/50 second exposure was taken with a Canon Rebel 300D digital camera.

# 136 | Crescent Venus

This image of Venus, showing a slender crescent, was taken by Darryl Archer of Kitchener, Ontario at 10:30 a.m. EDT on May 30, 2004.

On Tuesday, June 8, 2004, Venus will transit across the face of the Sun, an event that has not occurred since 1882.

Darryl used a ToUcam webcam attached to his 90mm guidescope being used at f25 and afterwards processed and stacked 11 of the 1000 frames he took using K3CCD tools and Photoshop.

# 135 | Planetary Parade

The western sky has been home to Venus for the first half of this year. Soon after making a rare transit across the face of the Sun, Venus will become an early morning object visible before sunrise. Although Saturn and Mars will continue to hug the western horizon for a bit longer, soon they too will disappear behind the Sun with Saturn not being visible again until late August and Mars not until November.

Bill Cole of Toronto, Ontario, took this image of Venus, Saturn and Mars from Tobermory, Ontario on May 16, 2004. Bill took a 40 second exposure using an Olympus OM-1 with a 50mm lens set a f1.8 and Kodak Royal Gold 400 film.

# 134 | Vanishing Venus

Venus, the brilliant star-like object currently seen low in the western sky immediately after dusk, will soon be vanishing from our evening sky. On June 8th, Venus will transit the Sun for the first time since 1882, an event eagerly anticipated by astronomers across the world. In the following weeks, Venus will be visible before dawn.

Watch Venus over the course of the next week to see how it drops further into the evening sky as it approaches inferior conjunction.

On May 20, 2004, Herbert Graf took this image of the thin crescent Moon and Venus from Scarborough, Ontario. Herbert used a Sony DSC-P93 digital camera at ISO 100 and took a 7-second exposure at f/4.

# 133 | Comet Neat

Comet NEAT, currently seen in the western sky after dusk, can be seen naked-eye if observed from a dark location. Using binoculars from an urban site will reveal a faint fuzzball with a small tail pointing away from the direction of the Sun.

SkyNews Editor Terence Dickinson took this 2-minute image of the comet on May 10, 2004 at 10:00 p.m. using a Canon 10D digital camera at 800 ISO and a Canon 300mm f/4 ED telephoto lens from Yarker, Ontario.

# 132 | European Lunar Eclipse

While the evening of May 4, 2004 was a typical one for those of us in North America, Europe was anxiously awaiting a lunar eclipse to begin.

For this composite images, displaced Canuck Anthony Ayiomamitis of Greece took multiple images of the the eclipse using a Tele Vue Pronto refractor piggybacked atop a 14" Celestron SCT mounted on a Losmandy G-11. A Canon 300D digital camera was used at ISO 1600 and exposures of 1/2000 to 4 seconds were taken.

# 131 | Comet Bradfield

Those who sprang forth from their bed at 4:00 a.m. and had clear skies this week have been treated to the first of three comets visiting us over the course of the next month.

Comet Bradfield is an early morning object found in the north-eastern sky about 2 hours before dawn. Although it is fading rapidly, binoculars should still reveal a slender tail pointing upwards.

On April 27, 2004, Len Benschop and Ian Wheelband travelled to the Torrens Barrens Dark Sky Preserve in Muskoka, Ontario. At 4:45 a.m. on the morning of the 28th, Comet Bradfield was imaged through Benschop's Celestron Ultima C8 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at f/4 using a Starlight Xpress MX7C CCD camera. Twelve 30-second images were combined and processed using MSB AstroArt 2.0 and Paint Shop Pro 5.0.

# 130 | The Venus Challenge

Some may be surprised to discover that on a day with a clear blue sky, Venus can be found quite easily. The trick is knowing where to look. Often the Moon can be used a guide, as was the case with Rick Stankiewicz of Keene, Ontario on April 23, 2004 when he took this image 75 minutes before sunset.

Rick was able to find the thin crescent Moon and, knowing the approximate location of Venus in relation to the Moon, scanned the blue sky until it was successfully found.

The trick to finding Venus during the day is getting your eyes focused correctly. Once found, use a rooftop, tree or pole as a reference point to aid in finding Venus again the next day.

Rick used a Nikon Coolpix 995 to take his image.