The Venus Transit 2004 … Safety!

All observations of objects in the sky that are located in the general direction of the Sun are DANGEROUS! Precautions must be taken to avoid damaging eyesight!

Observers of Mercury and Venus Transits should be aware that the safety code for these events is even more strict than for a solar eclipse. While the strong light from the Sun almost disappears during a total solar eclipse, the largest “darkening” of the Sun during the coming Venus transit is only about one-tenth of one percent (0.001)! This simply means that the Sun will be as dangerous for our eyesight at the time of the Venus Transit as it is on any normal day, when there is no planet in front of the solar disc.

NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN WITH UNPROTECTED EYES – THIS MAY CAUSE TOTAL BLINDNESS WITHIN SECONDS!
ALWAYS BE SURE TO USE PROPER OPTICAL FILTERS TO PROTECT YOUR EYES.
NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY THROUGH A TELESCOPE TOWARDS THE SUN, EVEN WITH FILTERS (ONLY PROFESSIONALS WELL VERSED IN THESE MATTERS MAY DO SO)!

Information about the “Solar Eclipse Safety Code” is available at many websites and safety filters (” solar eclipse viewers “) are provided by many companies in different countries. Always be sure to use properly certified products!

Basic safety information may be found, e.g., at:

http://www.eclipse.org.uk/safety.htm or
Sky & Space – SOBOMEX

Links to suppliers from that page do not imply any particular recommendations by the VT-2004 programme.