Transit of Venus June 5/6th

Frank Ryan · Post by **Frank Ryan** » Sat May 05, 2012 11:13 am

Sunrise on the 6th for us.
Will the club be planning anything for it?

Dave Lillis · Post by **Dave Lillis** » Sat May 05, 2012 11:35 am

yip, we discussed this in the meeting during the week.
one of 3 things is gong to happen.
1, it'll be blanket cloud over the entire country and we'll miss it
2, it'll be clear here in Limerick and we'll decide to stay here and go to a local mountain to see it
3, if its clear up north, we'll head up there the evening before.

a club text will be sent on the Tuesday saying what we're doing, afer discussing on the boards and after seeing weather prospects.

So there you have it, basically we'll decide on Tuesday what to do.

Frank Ryan · Post by **Frank Ryan** » Mon May 07, 2012 2:43 am

Yay!
I've the time booked off work for it.
Been checking out some of the timings.
Xavier fellamelad wot does the eclipse animations has a page up;
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/Ve ... lator.html

Local mountain.
Any ideas?
Must take a gander at Google Earth...

Why the North in particular?
Just coz of the weather?

Dave Lillis · Post by **Dave Lillis** » Mon May 07, 2012 10:24 am

if we stay local, then Im thinking Tountinna mountain near ballina/killaloe, Simon, you are probabily familar with this site as it has some big masts up on it.
It can be windy up there, but the buildings do give some wind shade.
Anyway, its altitude is 450 meters, the sun clears the horizon at 5.17 in Limerick, the mountain height gives us an extra minute.

I ran a simulation in starrynight for Derry and the sun rises a full 19 minutes earlier there then it does here.
If the weather is looking good up there, then it's worth travelling for it.
my 2 cents.

Dave Lillis · Post by **Dave Lillis** » Mon May 07, 2012 11:13 am

or on top of keeper hill, we get an extra 2 minutes more than Limerick, or is that a crazy idea, anyone got any local knowledge of the place ??

Frank Ryan · Post by **Frank Ryan** » Mon May 07, 2012 3:21 pm

Wow. 19 min. That's a lot. Worth thinking about for sure.

Simon Kenny · Post by **Simon Kenny** » Thu May 10, 2012 10:22 am

Dave Lillis wrote:if we stay local, then Im thinking Tountinna mountain near ballina/killaloe, Simon, you are probabily familar with this site as it has some big masts up on it.

Yeah, it would be a good place if we have to stay local, with shelter offered by the buildings and enough parking space. After Ballina the route is to Tountinna is not very obvious, so an idea would be to meet at the school in Ballina and then travel in convoy. It's about 20 miles (32 kms) from Limerick City.

Simon

Frank Ryan · Post by **Frank Ryan** » Fri May 11, 2012 4:42 pm

Is there a google earth place mark?

Simon Kenny · Post by **Simon Kenny** » Mon May 14, 2012 9:59 am

Frank Ryan wrote:Is there a google earth place mark?

The best I can do for now Frank is:

Lat 52Â°50'50.78"N (52.84744027370948)
Long 8Â°23'31.09"W (-8.391969108894898)

Simon

Frank Ryan · Post by **Frank Ryan** » Mon May 14, 2012 2:29 pm

That's Perfect Simon. Thanks.

Roy Stewart · Post by **Roy Stewart** » Mon May 14, 2012 6:41 pm

Just had a look at Dun Laoghaire on
Starry Night for the transit and we gain at least
9 mins compared to Limerick...

Its less hassel than driving the whole way
to the North, I believe this should be our
plan A, North plan B and Ballina plan C..
Thats my 2cents..

Cheers Roy

Frank Ryan · Post by **Frank Ryan** » Wed May 16, 2012 1:02 am

I agree with you Roy. If the best place to view it is East then yip. But like solar eclipse chasing. If your going to go you may as well go the whole hog and drive to wherever the clear skies are. If that's the North so be it.

Frank Ryan · Post by **Frank Ryan** » Wed May 16, 2012 1:03 am

I agree with you Roy. If the best place to view it is East then yip. But like solar eclipse chasing. If your going to go you may as well go the whole hog and drive to wherever the clear skies are. If that's the North so be it. It's hard to be choosy in this cloud ridden isle.

Conan Mc Donnell · Post by **Conan Mc Donnell** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:24 pm

Hi Guys,

Whats the latest on the transit, are we sticking to plan A, heading to the north? If so what time are we looking to leave Limerick at and are we going in transit? (excuse the pun)

Roy Stewart · Post by **Roy Stewart** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:46 pm

Hey Conan...

Its looking more likely that the North
is out, But there might be a glimmer of
hope down South...

Don't know what the full story is but I'm
willing to go weather chasing, and its looking
more likely that SW will be our best shot at
the times we need...

Cheers Roy