3. Space News | It's often said (by astronomers) that Venus is bright enough to cast shadows. So where are they? Few people have ever seen a Venus shadow. But they're there, elusive and delicate—and, if you appreciate rare things, a thrill to witness.
Attention, thrill-seekers: Venus is reaching its peak brightness for 2005 and casting its very best shadows right now.
Amateur astronomer Pete Lawrence of Selsey, UK, photographed the elusive shadow of Venus just two weeks ago. It was a quest that began in the 1960s:
"When I was a young boy," recalls Lawrence, "I read a book written by Sir Patrick Moore in which he mentioned the fact that there were only three bodies in the sky capable of casting a shadow on Earth. The sun and moon are pretty obvious, but it was the third that fascinated me -- Venus."
Forty years passed.
Then, "quite by chance a couple of months ago," he continues, "I found myself in Sir Patrick's home. The conversation turned to things that had never been photographed. He told me that there were few, if any, decent photographs of a shadow caused by the light from Venus. So the challenge was set."
On Nov. 18th, Lawrence took his own young boys, Richard (age 14) and Douglas (12), to a beach near their home. "There was no ambient lighting, no moon, no manmade lights, only Venus and the stars. It was the perfect venue to make my attempt." On that night, and again two nights later, they photographed shadows of their camera's tripod, shadows of patterns cut from cardboard, and shadows of the boy's hands—all by the light of Venus.
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