[Chaos-l] Fwd: [CFAS] Transit Observing Report

[Jon Stewart-Taylor]

I was down in Burgaw, so Kathleen and i went to Fort Fisher with the  
CFAS people:

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Jon Stewart-Taylorj <joncst at earthlink.net>
> Date: June 5, 2012 9:59:59 PM EDT
> To: Cape Fear Astronomical Society
> Subject: [CFAS] Transit Observing Report
>
> Kathleen and i made it to Fort Fisher a bit after 6:00, to find a  
> half-dozen or so instruments (telescopes, binoculars, and the  
> occasional video camera) trained on the sun.  We wandered up the  
> row, looking through each instrument.  Venus was well into its  
> transit, nicely contrasted against a number of sunspots. Each of the  
> instruments emphasized different aspects of the sun. The h-alpha  
> scopes were nifty because they showed features the white-light  
> scopes couldn't, but several of the white-light scopes gave very  
> good images as well.
>
> The sun came and went during the transit, but was out more than  
> not.  One exciting moment came when a jet flew across the sun, the  
> contrail drifting down across Venus, plainly visible through the  
> scopes.
>
> There were also non-astronomical things to see when the sun was  
> behind clouds.  Pelicans were diving offshore, and with low tide,  
> there was a garden of Fiddler Crabs alongside the cement walkway out  
> through the marsh.  They would dive back into their holes as we  
> approached, but if we stood still they would emerge, large-claw  
> first, like flowers blooming.
>
> All in all, a very nice evening.


-- 
Jon Stewart-Taylor:  joncst at earthlink.net
Chapel Hill Astronomy: http://www.rtpnet.org/chaos
Cape Fear Astronomy: http://www.capefearastro.org/