Venus

So I got a bit giddy with that cosmological inferiority you can only truly feel when you gaze upon a whole other “planet” with your own eyes in daylight — and it was set against such a dramatic backdrop.

I say “planet” because I saw this fantastic little movie yesterday which managed to change my mind.

The other incredible thing is that there is a tiny space probe up there around Venus right now – and it is the first ever transit of Venus to have an Earth satellite mixed in with the show.

And so I took a photo too!

It wasn’t easy, and with a few fiddles with settings trying to limit the amount of light coming through and getting a very quick shutter speed — plus crucially with this little film of special expensive shiny paper I got the shot. I was pretty stoked. Someone else had to hold the filter over the lens while I focused and aimed the camera. It looked a bit strange, truth be told.

Michael from work brought the filter in and rigged up a little contraption to attach to his camera. After he got his shot we had to pull it apart so it could fit over the Nikon D40x. Below is the filter, plus other contraptions Michael set up to view the transit.

Another awesome Brain Pickings book review about Venus is here.

The sun’s natural “colour” is neutral. A lot of the other shots you will see from today have been put through a orange/yellow filter.