Venus Transit Photos… & More

As we mentioned in Tuesday’s blog post, the Venus Transit occurs when Venus passes between the earth and the sun.  This happens in pairs, and then long periods of time pass until the next "pair" of transits.  Last evening’s event was the second in this century’s pair of occurrences… following closely on the heels of the 2004 Venus Transit.  The overwhelming majority of us will be gone the next time Venus passes between Earth and the sun… in 2117.

To safely view the sun during the event (or any event, for that matter), special goggles should be worn.

Here are two great photos captured yesterday.  The first was obviously taken through a telescope with a specialized filter.

Courtesy: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Today will be another beauty, at least in the Bluegrass, with highs near 75° and partly sunny skies.  There will be an increase in cloud cover in the afternoon, but central Kentucky should stay dry. 

Meanwhile, an isolated thunderstorm or two may occur in eastern Kentucky later today.  Coverage will be slim and most likely confined to the higher terrain near the Virginia line.  Here is the latest GFS forecast for precipitation today… the coverage is overdone.

Courtesy: Penn State Univ. Dept. of Meteorology

Thursday and Friday will be dry, region-wide, as high pressure builds in and a warming trend eventually boosts us back to average June temperatures by Friday.

Enjoy the day!

Geoff