Sorry to those of you out there expecting HJRO to be open.
I underwent a medical procedure/test today and the hospital put me out during those tests. The good news is the tests didn't turn up anything. The bad news for today is the side effects of the drug they gave made me unable to drive for today and very tired.
Because of this I was not able and even awake enough to open up the observatory.
Here's a 3d picture from the event for now.
This kind of picture requires the cyan magenta 3d glasses in order to see the effect.
I'm also including the Cross Eyed version of the photo.
Beltway to view either photo is to download the larger version. You'll need to find 3d glasses to view the anaglyph. To view the cross eyed method photo you need to put it on a computer screen where it takes up the computer screen. Being perhaps one foot to maybe 18 inches away you need to slightly cross your eyes and cause the dots on top of the photos to move together to form one dot. With your eyes kind of relaxed in a cross eyed mode with those dots merged, you will see three images and the center image is the combined one, giving you a 3d effect.
The cross eyed method doesn't work for everyone, because some can't cross their eyes, also 3d photos give some people headaches, and bothers them. So if you can't see the effect you may want to wait for the 2: uploads that will come later.
These photos were shot with my Fujix w3 3d camera. Of course they show the crowd, not the sun. I might have been able to have shot the sun in 3d with the a Vixen binoculars. I've tried that in the past with the moon, but results were not very impressive, so I didn't waste the time to do this with the sun. I think it would have failed anyway, because glare From daylight would have likely messed up the exposure and shown perhaps part of the eyepiece glass glowing rather than the sun itself.
The 3d effect you get from binoculars is interesting, but not really true 3d in one very important way, that is in stereo parallax means of sensing depth. The planets and moon are way to far for our eyes to triangulate. But still with some objects you will get some kind of stereo sense that really seems to be 3d for some other reason. I don't know why, it's a subject of discussion with no certain proofs. Sometimes in a dark sky site viewing the double cluster with the Vixen binoculars gives those open star clusters a very real 3d effect. Some of the stars look closer and others farther away. It's likely something psychological in the way we perceive with stereo vision. Difficult to explain. I can say that with the Vixen BT-80s in viewing some objects, more suited for stereo viewing like the double cluster, these small binoculars have outperformed larger telescopes, like my 10 inch schmidt Newtonian (Big Bertha) or even large six inch refractors that are very costly according to some who have looked at these objects through these interments.
Okay I've gone off subject, back to the 3d photos posted below.
above and below photos: FAAC member Jim Barnes, left stands near in front of his Newtonian telescope at the Venus transit.
Two photos below: Sean Swisz, in green shirt and Greg Ozimek holding camera watch Sean's father Dave Swisz as he looks through the Vixen telescope.
WARNINGS and cautions about safely looking at the sun.
Looking at the sun requires special solar filters, please be certain they are certified by a reputable dealer as being stable to look at the sun. When it doubt ask an astronomer, or don't look. Some items safe include solar eclipse glasses, special filters for telescopes by reputable companies like Thousand Oaks and Baader Planetarium, and special Hydrogen alpha telescopes like those sold by Coronodo, Lunt or Daystar. For those on a budget, you may find eclipse cards from Thousand oaks for naked eye viewing only. Those items designed and suitable for naked eye viewing are not suitable for binoculars or telescopes on either end of the telescope.
For those who have a Gallaleo scope, you can purchase a filter on the Internet that works with that $20 telescope for about $10. A thirty dollar telescope that will safely view the sun. Some manufacturers like Celestron offer very low cost refractors with a sun filter for solar viewing, under $100. These telescopes may not have the greatest optics, but for solar viewing they will be fine. Be sure you use the proper filter and double check it and make sure it's undamaged before using it. Also make sure it's firmly fastened to the telescope perhaps adding tape to it and the tube to insure it's taped on while using it. You don't want the filter to fall off accidently when viewing the sun. You can also use welders glass, green glass which is actually glass, number 14 rated only, to look at the sun with your eyes only. There is also welders glass acrylic number 14 with a gold coating. If it doesn't have a gold coating on the number 14 or is the older style green glass it's not safe. All welders glasses that are rated 13 and below are Unsafe and will not protect your eyes.
If you look at the sun with your eyes and the wrong protection you may damage your eyes up to and including blindness, in as little as 40 seconds. It could be instant blindness with binoculars and telescopes so use extreme caution. People who damage their eyes partially or even fully may not realize it while doing it, because the optic nerve and cells on the back of the eye have no pain sensors. Often the eyes damaged will be "dead men walking" that is the cells may function for up to 24 or 48 hours and later the next morning you may find you cannot recognize the face of a loved one eating at the breakfast table across from you, because you looked at the sun incorrectly and damaged your eyes.
Do Not use the following
Some things that don't work and should not be used include:
Sun glasses - do not use these they will NOT PROTECT your eyes.
Polarizing filters - - do not use these they will NOT PROTECT your eyes.
Wrapping paper that is aluminized - do not use these they will NOT PROTECT your eyes.
Silver coated party balloons - do not use these they will NOT PROTECT your eyes.
most welding glasses rated 13 and less and some of the 14 rated glass - do not use these they will NOT PROTECT your eyes.
"the folded rear view mirror of your car in night vision mode" - do not use these they will NOT PROTECT your eyes.
smoked glass: smoked glass has worked in the past and can work with carbon residue on it. But the layers of carbon are often not evenly coated on the glass and they can scratch and fall off easily. So DO NOT use smoked glass it's not worth the risk - do not use these they will NOT PROTECT your eyes.
There is a safe way to solar project an image, called pinhole projection. Using a box or a sheet of paper and something perhaps a thin piece of cardboard you can put a pin hole in the thicker material and then let the shadow of the sun go through one piece of cardboard or paper and shine on the other piece of paper. This can be done with a cardboard box and the further the rear screen is away from the pinhole the larger the image of the sun will be. The larger the image the fainter it will be as wel.
You can also create a sun funnel, look it up on the Internet. This can use a cheap eyepiece or lens to project the sun on a rear screen material. With some solar projection designs the optics of a telescope or binocular or other magnifier, will heat up and will also cause a focused beam at one point in the path of the image. This focused beam may cause burns if you put your hand at the focus point and will definitely cause blindness if you put your eye at that point. Some of us remember being at a stage as kids where we burned ants on the sidewalk with a magnifier lens. If the sun will kill ants, it will surely burn your eyes or skin if you get in the way of a focused beam.
I have a solar projector that we used at the Venus transit event that projected a beam out wider and wider, from the lens. It made the beam of light larger and larger due to the type of lens. There is no sharp focus point with this projector, so it cannot burn people or cause instant blindness in it's long path. It spreads out the sun from a 4 inch disk reflection to a 9.5 inch disk. You still don't want to look directly into the beam as it's kind of bad like looking at the sun directly, but it will safely allow the sun to be viewed on the screen.
If you build a sun funnel type device with a magnifier lens or eyepiece, it's better to build it to keep it inclosed, in a box or funnel, where visitors cannot put their hands or eyes. And enclosed design is safer. Solar projection can be very safe and affordable.
Now for some more photos.
If you look at the sun with an
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