Sir Patrick Moore observed the transit of Venus from his home in Selsey in between reporting live for the BBC and recording a Sky at Night special. While others around him chose high-tech solutions to view the transit, Sir Patrick elected to use his 70-year-old 3-inch refractor to project the Sun's image onto a card. Image credit: Astronomy Now.

For thousands of observers across the British Isles, the dawn of Tuesday, June 8th brought the kind of weather they had fervently wished for: clear, cloudless skies for the transit of Venus. Many keen amateur astronomers had taken the day off work to see the rare and beautiful sight of our sister planet gliding across the face of the Sun, an event last seen in 1882.

While most people saw the spectacle from home using binoculars or small telescopes equipped with solar filters, many gathered at special transit 'parties' like that at the historic Royal Observatory Greenwich in Greenwich Park, London. BBC presenter Adam Hart-Davis joined the crowds at Greenwich to bring results from British enthusiasts in Egypt and the village of Much Hoole in Lancashire at the home of Jeremiah Horrocks, who saw the transit of 1639.

BBC coverage extended to the home of Sir Patrick Moore in the coastal town of Selsey, West Sussex, where a veritable forest of telescopes stood trained on the Sun. Conditions there were excellent, and several observers chose to view the event in hydrogen alpha (H-α) light. This had never been done before, so no-one knew quite what to expect.

Renowned U.K. planetary imager Damian Peach was also stationed at Selsey, equipped with a Vixen 80mm apochromatic refractor, Baader full aperture solar filter and ToUcam Pro Web camera, with which he secured these images of the ingress and egress of Venus. Click on either montage for a larger view. Image credit: Damian Peach / Dave Tyler.

One of the eagerly anticipated features was the so-called 'black drop', an effect seen when the disc of Venus is tangential to the Sun's limb and a droplet or ligament appears between them, making timings difficult. The black drop was famously evident during the transit of 1769 observed by Captain James Cook in Tahiti. While many did see (and photograph) the effect this time round, early reports suggest it didn't manifest itself in H-α light. Others report that with large aperture, high-contrast instruments it didn't appear at visual wavelengths either. Clearly, the phenomenon is still far from being explained and rival theories will be hotly debated in the weeks and months to come.

Another aspect of Venus observation met with a far greater consensus: the visibility of the Venusian atmosphere. Just after third contact, when the limb of Venus was exiting the disc of the Sun, many observers around the world reported (and again photographed) seeing a ring of light concentric with the edge of Venus on the portion of the planet's globe that was off the face of the Sun. This was clearly refraction of the Sun's light within the thick atmosphere of Venus. However, others claim to have seen it before second contact, but the vast majority of observations have still to be reported.

Renowned rock guitarist and music producer Brian May (now Dr Brian May) joined in the revelry at Sir Patrick Moore's home and proved he's also an accomplished observer. Here he uses his first home-made childhood Newtonian reflector to project an image of the Sun for Sky at Night transit special co-presenter, Chris Lintott. Image credit: Astronomy Now.

While large groups of observers were intent on gathering valuable scientific data and timings, the six hour duration of the transit meant there was plenty of time to chat and reflect. For many groups, the event took on an air of celebration, and this was very evident at Sir Patrick's home and gardens in Selsey. Here astronomers both amateur and professional were able to mingle and reminisce, while legendary rock guitarist Brian May, now Dr Brian May, showed he was an equally skilled observer.

Even now, astronomers are looking forward to the next transit of June 6th, 2012. Unfortunately for U.K. astronomers, however, this transit will be largely over when the Sun rises on that day. Third contact will occur with the Sun just 6° above the east-northeast horizon at 5:38 a.m. BST for an observer at the centre of the British Isles.

For those seeking more information on the 2004 transit of Venus, a joint British Astronomical Association, Federation of Astronomical Societies, and Society for Popular Astronomy Web page has a gallery of observations received so far.

Our latest 132-page Astronomy Now special edition is an extravaganza of astronomy for the year ahead, with a complete 30-page guide to observing the planets, moon, meteor showers, two solar eclipses, and the deep sky in 2010.
 U.K. STORE
 E.U. STORE
 U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

Hubble Reborn
Hubble Reborn takes the reader on a journey through the Universe with spectacular full-colour pictures of galaxies, nebulae, planets and stars as seen through Hubble's eyes, along the way telling the dramatic story of the space telescope, including interviews with key scientists and astronauts.
 U.K. STORE
 E.U. STORE
 U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

3D Universe
Witness the most awesome sights of the Universe as they were meant to be seen in this 100-page extravaganza of planets, galaxies and star-scapes, all in 3D!
 U.K. STORE
 E.U. STORE
 U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

This special publication features the photography of British astro-imager Nik Szymanek and covers a range of photographic methods from basic to advanced. Beautiful pictures of the night sky can be obtained with a simple camera and tripod before tackling more difficult projects, such as guided astrophotography through the telescope and CCD imaging.
 U.K. STORE
 E.U. STORE
 U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

Explore the Universe with these new versions of the award-winning Starry Night Software. Available now from the Astronomy Now Store.
 U.K. STORE
 E.U. STORE
 U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

Astronomy Now is pleased to announce the publication of Exploring Mars. The very best images of Mars taken by orbiting spacecraft and NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers fill up the 98 glossy pages of this special edition!
 U.K. STORE
 E.U. STORE
 U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE

This new poster features some of the best pictures from NASA's amazing Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity.
 U.K. STORE
 E.U. STORE
 U.S. & WORLDWIDE STORE