2012 Transit of Venus

With input from Errol Rickmann, AAJ President

2012 Transit of Venus (seen from Jamaica through telescope - click for larger)

The 2012 Transit Of Venus (TOV) was one of the astronomical events of the 21st century. A TOV occurs when the planet Venus passes within the line of sight connecting the Sun and the Earth. Venus transits are very rare by human standards, occuring in pairs 8 years apart, each 8 year period being separated by about one century. Previous to 2012 there was a Venus transit 8 years earlier in 2004. The next TOV will be in the year 2117. Someone born today could live to be over 100yrs old, and not get to directly witness a TOV in their lifetime. Those who were alive to see it with their own eyes are indeed fortunate.

The TOV left Jamaica With a very narrow window of opportunity as the ingress started at 17:04 local time (22:04 universal time), in Kingston leaving less than 2hrs for viewing before sunset. AAJ TOV plans involved a trip from Kingston to Negril or Montego Bay to catch a few more minutes. The absence of the AAJ's logistical keystone, Wayne Chin, however resulted in the crafting of a plan B by Bobby Rodriguez and Errol Rickmann.

Mr Rickmann's son, Martin Rickman is a member of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF). He was just promoted from Major to Lieutenant Colonel and put in charge of the JDF Moneague Training Camp. Lieutenant Colonel Rickmann helped to find a venue on the North Coast and provide transportation. Two of his associates in Ocho Rios (Bryan Phillips and Alexander Sale) were able to come up with an ideal spot on the beach at White River at a hotel called Crystal Ripples, owned by the Marsh family. The geographic coordinates were latitude 18deg 24min 39.95sec north (18.4111deg), longitude 77deg 4min 22.17sec west (-77.07283deg).

AAJ logistics team and partrons (click for larger)

With the location in place, a 10" Newtonian reflector telescope with a solar filter was provided by the family of the late President Emiritus of the AAJ, Mr. Gladstone Walling. Mr. Walling used the telescope to observe the 2004 TOV from Portland in Jamaica, along with Bobby Rodriguez. A camera (Fujifilm Finepix S6000FD) was secured from Errol Rickmann's daughter. The camera could not be coupled to the the telescope, however Bobby and Martin innovated an ingenious eye piece cover and shade made from a spray paint pressure can cover. This was successful in blocking any stray light from getting in, therefore allowing photographs to be taken through a 25mm plossil eyepiece.

The equipment was set up at 16:30 and Sun Spots were observed and photographed until a little past 17:00 when the first indentation apeared on the disc of the Sun. After this photographs were taken of the complete ingress till the orb of Venus was clear of the edge of the Sun's rim. There were over 40 pictures taken before the sun reached deep clouds on the western horizon. The thick haze acted like a filter and allowed pictures to be taken with the camera alone.

2012 TOV (seen from Jamaica through natural cloud filter - click for larger)

The approximately 30 patrons who were present (among them AAJ members, JDF personnel, Canadian army students, Crystal Ripples hotel staff, and tourists) were entertained with firt-hand views through the eyepiece and were allowed to take pictures with their pocket digital camers and phones due to the innovative baffle designed by Bobby and Martin. They were very elated as they could send the pictures back home to their relatives. Several patrons expressed gratitude at seeing the TOV for their first look through a telescope.

Venus partially blocks the Sun behind a patron on the beach in Jamaica (click for larger)

Data gathered from the AAJ's TOV project was shared with a global effort based in Germany, called the Venus Project - the AAJ's contribution can be viewed here, here and here. Other TOV viewings of note include that from Bora Bora by Bill Kramer who runs a group called Eclipse Chasers and also gave a lecture on a cruise ship (the Paul Gauguin) about the event. This video was taken by a member of the cruise ship staff.. See more here and here.