MBK Team eclipses - Venus Transit June 8, 2004 from Slovenia

Venus Transit

June 8, 2004

MBK Team members participated in public observations across the country:
in Maribor, Slovenska Bistrica, Ljubljana, and Ptuj.

The largest group was stationed on one of the main squares in Maribor (hometown of the MBK Team). Eight telescopes were made available for the public viewing of the Venus transit. The society's new 30-cm Newtonian had it's first light when we directed it towards the Sun just minutes before the first contact. Other scopes were 15-cm refractor, 20-cm Klevtsov-Cassegrain, two 20-cm Schmidt-Cassegrains, 10-cm refractor, 20-cm Newtonian, and a 8-cm refractor. More than 5000 citizens were lucky to see the event with our help.

Above: lots of spectators attended the public observation in Maribor. Photo: Jure Zakrajsek.

Ingress of Venus. Animation: Dunja Fabjan and Jure Zakrajsek. (363 kB)	Egress of Venus. Animation: Dunja Fabjan and Jure Zakrajsek. (401 kB)	Transit of Venus. Animation: Dunja Fabjan and Jure Zakrajsek. (1.2 MB)
Third contact at 11h 03m 55s UT taken with webcam, ten frames stacked. Photo: Jure Zakrajsek.	Venus at 11h 07m 50s UT taken with webcam, ten frames stacked. Photo: Jure Zakrajsek.	Venus at 11h 14m 40s UT taken with webcam, ten frames stacked. Photo: Jure Zakrajsek.

Venus transit sequence shot with 200-mm f/3.5 lens, 1/6 sec exposures, Minolta Dimage 7i on tripod. Photo: Kazimir Gomilsek.

06h 23m 00s UT	06h 32m 02s UT
06h 36m 48s UT	06h 44m 16s UT
07h 07m 08s UT

All photos above were shot afocally through 20-cm SCT and ND5 Solar filter with Canon A80 digital camera. Photo: Peter Kirn.

Below: Venus Transit photos shot through 20-cm Klevtsov f/10 telescope + ND5 filter with Nikon F65. Exposures 1/250 s on Kodak T-Max 100 film. Photo: Dunja Fabjan in Jure Zakrajsek

05:20
05:21
05:22

05:23
05:24
05:25

05:26
05:30
05:31

05:33
05:35
05:37

05:38
05:38:30
05:38:50

05:39
05:41
05:42

05:43
05:48
05:54

06:00:00
06:15:00
06:31:25

06:45:19
07:00:11
07:15:09

07:30:14
07:45:37
08:02:23

08:15:01
08:30:00
08:45:34

09:02:38
09:14:50
09:30:01

09:55:52
10:01:17
10:16:24

10:30:03
10:45:08
10:58:02

10:59:00
11:01:02
11:02:11

11:03:09
11:04:08
11:05:00

11:06:01
11:07:01
11:08:00

11:09:05
11:10:00
11:11:00

11:12:00
11:13:00
11:14:03

11:15:08
11:16:00
11:17:00

11:18:14
11:19:00
11:20:00

11:21:04
11:22:00
11:23:00

11:24:00

The group in Slovenska Bistrica used a 25-cm Schmidt-Newtonian with a Baader Solar filter. They also observed the transit with a video camera, allowing the spectators to view the event on TV display. Visitors could also see the black spot of Venus with properly protected eyes without any optical aid. About 600 citizens of Slovenska Bistrica enjoyed the Venus transit at our exhibition.

Videostills from the public observation in Slovenska Bistrica, organized by Galaksija and Orion Astronomical Societies. Photo: Javor Kac.

Venus a few minutes before the third contact. Photo: Javor Kac.

Venus at third contact. Photo: Javor Kac.

A sequence of Venus at third contact. Photo: Javor Kac.

Venus transit at 08h 07m 20s shot afocally through 30-mm REVUE telescope at 30x. Baader AstroSolar Folie ND5. Canon Digital IXUS 400 camera was used. Photo: Dejan Matvoz, location: near Velenje, Slovenia (46°21'N, 15°09'E).

Venus transit observations near Ptuj, Slovenia (46°24'N, 15°52'E) were carried out by Ivan Donik.

Contact times (UT) measured by the Team members:

Longitude Latitude T₁ T₂ T₃ T₄ Observer Instrument

15.5756° E 46.3917° N 5h 20m 20s 5h 39m 37s 11h 03m 53s 11h 22m 58s KACJA 254-mm f/4 S-N, 70x

15.6489° E 46.5606° N N/A 5h 39m 45s 11h 04m 46s 11h 22m 36s FABDU 203-mm f/10 K-C

15.6489° E 46.5606° N N/A 5h 39m 25s 11h 03m 57s 11h 23m 13s ZAKJU 152-mm f/8 R

The Venus Transit project was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia, and "Fotokopirnica Jurcek" Copy shop from Slovenska Bistrica.

Back to
MBK Team homepage