Astronomers alerted skywatchers to a rare heavenly phenomenon, in which the planet Venus traveled across the sun early Wednesday morning.
Stargazers in Helsinki, Lahti, southern Karelia, and Kouvola staged vigils Tuesday night to capture the one-in-a-lifteime stellar event.
Astronomy hobbyist Kari Tuomi of Konut Tählet was one of many enthusiasts to follow the planet’s transit. He observed the heavens from an observatory in Hartola, near Kouvola.
“The sky was full of clouds and there was no sign of the sun. But around 4.25 the clouds parted for about one minute and I was able to see Venus on her journey,” Tuomi said with an air of satisfaction.
“At the time she was about halfway through her passage across the sun. She looked like a small speck,” he added.
Tuomi watched the spectacle with the aid of binoculars with special filters. He also had a welding helmet as an additional precaution to help him safely view the heavenly objects. Watching the sun without protection or regular binoculars is extremely dangerous and can lead to permanent blindness.
An amateur astronomer, Tuomi has researched the sun since the 1960s.
“The sun is very interesting to follow. With the aid of special binoculars you can see sun spots very well, and they’re certainly not as large as Venus was this morning,” he added.
The hobbyist explained that it’s also possible to follow heavenly objects during the summer and that with high powered telescopes Venus is visible even in the middle of the day.
“It’s really not easy to find the stars, but many hobbyists have telescopes on the computers, and the computers can find these targets,” Tuomi explained.
Venus last traversed the sun in 2004. The next time the rare event can be seen will be 105 years from now in 2117.