Venus in Transit

Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Split, Croatia
First to know: I pinned Split on the map because this blog site would not locate Milna. However, the island right below Split on the map is Brac, which is where Milna is. Of course, it's not labeled on that map, either, but if you follow the link, you will see a more detailed map of Brac and will be able to locate it for yourself in the southwest corner of the island. (You will have to click on the small map to enlarge it.)

Next to know: If you want to see the pictures in this entry in a larger format, just click on them, and they will open in a new window. 


Last night, Bill and I decided to get up early this morning to see the sunrise with Venus in transit. We figured it was a once-in-our-lifetime opportunity so it was something we should do, especially here. Since we wanted to be sure not to miss it, we got up at 4:30 and went in search of the best place to see the sunrise over the mountains. Our first stop was on the ridge above Milna, but Bill thought we'd do better even higher up, so we left there, started along the road to Bobovisca, found what we thought would be a good place, pulled over onto the side of the road, and got out.

After a few minutes, Bill decided to walk down a side road to see if there was a better view to be had, which left me alone on the side of the road with my camera and the car as a green van with Slovenian tags passed by coming from Bobovisca. The man driving pulled over and stopped just as Bill came back. We figured he had stopped to see if I needed help and would realize that I didn't and move on. However, he got out of the van and started speaking to us in Slovenian, which of course, we did not understand at all. We were trying to explain to him that we were OK, when he pointed toward where the sun would rise and said, "Venus." We realized that he was there for the same reason we were. Bill had scouted out a better place to see the sun come up, so he communicated this with gestures, and we all took off down the side road.

Luckily for us, the man had brought a very dark piece of glass to look through. Bill and I had not planned far enough ahead to procure any kind of looking device, so we were very grateful he had it and was willing to share because with it, we could see the little dot that was Venus, and without it, all we would have seen would have been blinding sun.        












But with the glass, we did get to see it in about the 1:00 position.  














At this point, the sun was up in front of us, and the moon was up behind us, which meant that we were standing in a direct line between the moon, Venus, and the sun.  

















 It felt truly amazing to realize we were witnessing something that would never happen again in our lifetimes - the next time will be in December 2117 - and humbling to contemplate the cosmic wonder of the universe and our place in it. 






By 6:00, we could no longer see Venus, and we were all ready to leave. Bill invited our new friend to follow us to Milna and join us for coffee on the riva (waterfront), which he did. We sat mostly in silence enjoying the early morning calm sipping our coffee, and then he left. It was only later that I realized that the three of us had shared an incredible experience without even knowing each others' names.   















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