The Sagittarius Star Cloud - image taken from 20Km outside Sharm-El-Sheikh
Click on the thumbail to see the bigger image
The 'Stinger of Scorpio'
Click on the thumbail to see the bigger image
The 2004 Transit of Venus
2004 - my first 'Transit of Venus' - hopefully I will get to see the next one in 2012
The journey consisted of:
1) Fly to Sharm El-Sheikh, on the Sinai Peninsular, Egypt in the company of Explorers Tours (again!)
2) Stayed at a modest tourit class Hotel just on the outskirts of the town
3) Took the opportunity of a couple of nights in the Desert for some astronomical picture taking (not quite as good as the Leonids trip of 1999)
Sharm-El-Sheikh had developed very much since my previous trip in 1999, to the Lemonid Meteor Shower. As the event was also in 'high sumer' in Sinai it was incredibly hot - during the Transit, from my observing location on top of a Hotel roof, the local temperature reached 55 Centigrade (about 130 degrees Farenheit!)
It was certainly worth the trip though the 'night sky' was not as good as in 1999, because of the development of so many more hotels in Sharm and the surrounding towns.
The next Transit of Venus will take place in 2012 and thereafter it will be December 2117 before the next one
The journey consisted of:
1) Fly to Sharm El-Sheikh, on the Sinai Peninsular, Egypt in the company of Explorers Tours (again!)
2) Stayed at a modest tourit class Hotel just on the outskirts of the town
3) Took the opportunity of a couple of nights in the Desert for some astronomical picture taking (not quite as good as the Leonids trip of 1999)
Sharm-El-Sheikh had developed very much since my previous trip in 1999, to the Lemonid Meteor Shower. As the event was also in 'high sumer' in Sinai it was incredibly hot - during the Transit, from my observing location on top of a Hotel roof, the local temperature reached 55 Centigrade (about 130 degrees Farenheit!)
It was certainly worth the trip though the 'night sky' was not as good as in 1999, because of the development of so many more hotels in Sharm and the surrounding towns.
The next Transit of Venus will take place in 2012 and thereafter it will be December 2117 before the next one
Equipment used to view the Transit - a SolarScope
This reflects an image of the Sun onto the inside of the device
making it very safe to view an image of the Sun.
This reflects an image of the Sun onto the inside of the device
making it very safe to view an image of the Sun.
What did I see of the Transit
Look for the small black spot crossing the disc of the Sun - this is the Planet Venus
- this takes about 6 hours.
Transit of Venus is a very rare and historic event - a previous one was viewed by Captain James Cook - on the same voyage he was murdered in Tahiti
Look for the small black spot crossing the disc of the Sun - this is the Planet Venus
- this takes about 6 hours.
Transit of Venus is a very rare and historic event - a previous one was viewed by Captain James Cook - on the same voyage he was murdered in Tahiti
