As many of you probably read in the media, there was a rare planetary occurrence on Tuesday.  In fact, Venus passed directly between the earth and the sun.

The Cayman Islands Astronomical Society  (CIAS) setup a series of high powered telescopes which were equipped with special filters so that anyone who was interested could see this event. (and not go blind in the process)   They set up shop on top of one of the buildings at Camana Bay.  Below are some of the telescopes in the setup.  Amazingly, organizers estimate that over 1000 people showed up.  I went early, so got to spend some time looking in some telescopes before lineups formed. By the time I left, the place was packed, so 1000 people is very plausible.  I think the CIAS can label this event a huge success.

This occurrence is quite rare.  The last one was in 2004 but was not visible from North America.  The next such event will be in 2117 … 105 years from now.  The actual fact that a planet passes in front of the sun is quite neat, but I have to admit that the fact that the next one will occur when I (and 99.9% of people alive today) will not be around to see it was definitely not lost on me.

Interestingly, the organizers of the event were also giving out “sun glasses” that allowed you to look at the sun without fear or ruining your eyes.  With these glasses, one could see without any magnification the small spot on Venus against the sun.  Definitely not as cool as looking though the telescope, but also quite nice to see without any assistance.

Below are some pictures taken by a good friend of mine who allowed me to put some of his pictures on my blog.  Great shots Rob! 🙂   Venus is the dark spot at the top right.

 

 

To anyone reading this blog in 2117 … hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed it in 2012.