Day #5 - A first time for everything

Today at work seemed (at least in my mind) particularly unproductive. But that happens sometimes.

What I did do today, reluctantly at the time, was go to the Observatory, which is a mere 12 paces from my desk, to see Venus. It was the middle of the afternoon, so not the time one usually would think about seeing a planet in the sky. Indeed when I walked outside and tried to even think of figuring out where we were looking, I could see nothing. But as our Chief Astronomer, Derrick Pitts, had just been out there, I took the volunteer's word that I would see Venus. And indeed I did. And because of looking through the atmosphere it sort of looked like mirage with wavy lines going in front of it. But regardless, it was a cool first time view of our neighbor planet.

It wasn't until much later. Less than an hour ago infact, that I realized the cooler first for today in the Observatory. I have looked through the telescope at the sun during the day (always with a filter) and I have looked through the telescope at night without a filter. But today was the first time I have ever looked through that telescope during the day without a filter to protect my eyes. Why? Because it wasn't pointed at or near the sun.

I may be a nerd, but I find that cool.

A side note about the picture: While the picture is mine and it is of the telescope I wrote about, it is not from today. So while I wrote about the telescope not having a filter on it, in the picture, there is a Mylar Filter on the end of the tube. Mylar Filters are really good for seeing sunspots on the surface of the sun.